


Rescue

by orphan_account



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst In Disguise, Bisexuality, But you already knew that, Dark, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Trigger Warning - Abuse, Verbal Abuse, eliza is bi, eliza is helpless, i mean it's obvious, maria is probably gay but in denial, that covers it, yeah that's pretty much it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-10-13 21:01:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 21,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10521774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Angelica and Peggy are tired of their sister moping after being rejected by Alex, so they convince her to come to a party being thrown by the city to celebrate Founder's Day in an attempt to get her to fall for someone else. Of course, Eliza thinks this won't work--until she meets Maria. Except Maria's current boyfriend throws a few wrenches into them even hanging out; and besides, she has a boyfriend, she's straight, right?What Eliza's about to find out is that the situation Maria's in is... layered, and Eliza is about to be sucked into it.





	1. A Familiar Feeling

_What am I doing here?_

Eliza held a plastic Dixie cup with fruit punch in one hand that she had been awkwardly sipping for the past twenty minutes. She didn't want to be at the party, especially not trying to find "someone else" so that she would stop feeling sorry for herself. _Which she wasn't_ , she was just taking sometime to get over the fact that Alex had rejected her.

She took a small sip of the over-sweet red liquid in the cup and sighed, shoulders slumping. She probably looked terribly out of place, even in the light blue sun dress Angelica had coaxed her into wearing. It felt like everyone was purposely avoiding her. It also felt like the world was imploding, but both of those were probably just her, or at least that's what anyone else would say.

Speaking of anyone else, Angelica was walking towards her. Eliza took another tiny sip of punch as she approached.

"You know, you could at least _pretend_ like you want to be here?" Angelica said, crossing her arms and giving her an incredulous look.

 "There's literally no one here that I want to talk to. Can I go home?" Eliza replied.

"You haven't even _tried_! Jesus Christ, Eliza."

"Well I'm not going to try for something I don't want." She sighed. "Please can I go home?"

Angelica shook her head. "I'm going back into the party, and you should too." She turned around. "Though if you want to stand in the corner and act emo, I can't stop you." With that, the eldest sister disappeared into the crowd, and Eliza got more punch and found a seat on an empty bench pressed up against the wall.

"Scuse me, is this seat taken?"

Eliza looked up from her cup at the voice. The voice belonged to a girl with a mess of brown hair and a red dress a clutch on a plated gold chain draped over her shoulder. Eliza blinked, forgetting her voice for a second. "Oh, uhm, no, it's not," she said after a second, scooting over to give her more space. "Here." 

The girl smiled and sat down next to Eliza. "Thanks," she said, leaning against the wall. "Every other seat was taken or I was just unwanted." She shrugged.

"That sucks. Hey, at least I don't care," Eliza laughed. "What's your name?"

"Maria, you?"

"Eliza."  She took a sip from her punch again.

"Okay, but what are you doing here?" Maria asked, cocking an eyebrow. "You definitely look forced onto this."

Eliza sighed. "I was. My sisters made me because they think I'll stop moping about a guy."

Maria laughed. "So they're trying to get you to fall from someone else."

"Peggy kept repeating, 'The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.' She can be a dork," Eliza said, shaking her head slowly. "Honestly, I don't think it's gonna work."

Maria shrugged. "I mean, you should at least give it a try." She nudged Eliza. "You'd be surprised."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "It's not going to. Trust me, it isn't _that_ simple." She drank some of her punch. "That's not how I work."

Maria held up her hands. "You're right, I don't know you so I shouldn't judge, but I know that in my case it works pretty well," she said.

Eliza shrugged. "So far... " she began. "I suppose it hasn't worked."

"You suppose?" Maria replied, grinning. She raised an eyebrow playfully. "Meaning you might have?"

"I dunno."

Maria held up her hand again. "Hey, I'm a complete stranger, I don't need to know~"

"Yeah, and I'm not telling you," Eliza replied. "Not right now at least."

"Oh?" Maria looked genuinely interested. "What are you getting at there?"

Eliza shrugged. "Eh. You seem cool, maybe we could hang out somewhere?"

"Oh." Maria nodded. Her expression had changed to something else. "Yeah… I guess." she shook her head.

"Are you okay?" Eliza asked, tilting her head slightly in her confusion.

"Hm? Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

Something about that didn't seem right. Eliza nodded slowly, unsure of the subtext beneath those words. "So, what are you doing here? I'm surprised you don't have a guy with you."

"Ah…" Maria trailed off. "I have a boyfriend, actually. He's just not here."

That stung more than it probably should have. "Well, why isn't he with you? Every couple is, practically."

"He… didn't want… to… go," Maria mumbled slowly, the words broken up into chunks.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Eliza said quickly. "It's okay! You can… stop talking. After all, I'm still a stranger, I don't need to hear about your love life." She laughed quickly and awkwardly. "Sorry."

Maria grinned equally as awkwardly. "It's… fine. Really okay."

"It… yeah. Okay. Sorry." Eliza chose not to protest and leaned back against the wall. Suddenly, her hand knocked into her tiny cup of punch which spilled everywhere. She gasped and instinctively pulled away from it, knocking into Maria. Maria scooted backwards and stood up.

"I'll get some paper towels!" she said, disappearing into the crowd.

Eliza nodded and picked up the cup, finding a trash can nearby and depositing the cup in it. One side of her dress clung to her thigh as she walked, soaked with the red juice. She gagged and tried to pull it away from her skin with two fingers.

Maria came back with clumps of paper towels from the bathroom and was mopping up the mess. Eliza crouched down and reached for a pair of the towels. "You don't have to help me," she said, wiping the floor.

"But I am and you should be grateful," Maria replied, sticking her tongue out. "Here, do you need some for your dress?" she offered.

"I mean you don't-- Thanks, I do," Eliza said, taking a few and pressing them against her leg.

"See, I do!" Maria said. "See if I wasn't helping you would have had that on your skin for a longer time, and it sounds disgusting?"

"Fine, fine," Eliza muttered, rolling her eyes. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

When the majority of the mess was cleaned up, the two girls stood. Eliza sighed. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Eh. 'Disasters' like this always happen in situations like these." Maria shrugged. "Oh well. Hey, at least your heel didn't break or you didn't fall on your face or something super embarrassing."

"Wow. That's a comfort."

"You're welcome~" Maria said.

Eliza laughed. "Wow… what time is it?" she asked, searching for a clock.

Maria shrugged and checked her phone. "It's… nine thirty. Oh. _Shit._ "

"Huh, half an hour left... What are you cursing over?" Eliza questioned.

"I should have been home half an hour ago… I have to go, _now_ ," Maria said, beginning to panic slightly. "I'm sorry, really, I gotta go." She turned to leave.

"Oh, uh… bye? Wait!" Eliza said. "Can I have your number?"

"Don't have a plan on this brick, sorry," Maria said quickly. "I have a Skype though."

"Well, can I have that, then?" Eliza asked.

"Uh.. yeah, just… It's  maria.reynolds1768. Really sorry but I have to go… now…so… hit me up, kay?" Maria said, starting to walk again.

"Yeah, got it, thanks, uh.. Night!" Eliza called after her.

"Night!"

Eliza stared after her for a moment, only being torn from her own little world by someone tapping on her shoulder. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned around.

"I saw everything," Peggy said, her expression as close to the cat face as was humanly possible.

"What the _fuck_ , Peggy?" Eliza said, jumping. "You were watching us-- me?"

"Well… not all of it," Peggy replied, grinning widely. "Y'know I didn't think you were bi."

"I'm-- it's-- not... " Eliza said, grasping at straws. "Seriously!"

"You know how believable you sound?"

"Okay, fine, maybe I… do?"

Peggy laughed. "There's no maybe about it. I mean, you got her frigging _number_ , well, Skype. That makes it _pre-tty_ darn obvious, y'know."

"Shut _up_ ," Eliza grumbled, looking away.

"You two might actually make a cute couple. Although… how would you have sex?"

"Oh my _god_ , Peggy, _please_ shut _up_ ," Eliza mumbled.

"I can probably figure that out later. Not important. What's her name?"

"Maria and she has a boyfriend."

"Aw." Peggy pouted. "Well… she still _could_ be bi or pan or some other third thing and she _could_ realize how awesome you are and she _could_ dump her boyfriend.."

"I doubt it, that never happens," Eliza mumbled.

"Almost never! There's still a chance!" Peggy said. "Wow, are _you_ a downer as of late. Just let it happen, you never know~!

Eliza sighed even as she smiled at the hopes of dating Maria. "I suppose you're right."

"That's the spirit! Now, how about actually dancing for the last twenty minutes, hm?" Peggy said, turning to join the crowd. "I requested your favorite song!"

Eliza shrugged and followed her younger sister, her smile forming into a grin.


	2. Texting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria and Eliza are texting each other whilst James is over.

Everyday, Maria found herself looking forward daily to texting Eliza. She managed to squeeze it in between school and when James dropped by each day. Some days, it worked miracles on her mood; she was even singing sometimes when James did arrive. She tried not to, not wanting to make him suspicious. But he knew. Somehow, he always found out.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked one evening, just after her mother had left for her second job. 

Maria paused and leaned back on the couch, curling up in a ball. "Nothing," she said, and took a sip of soda. 

"Nothing?" James said. He looked incredulously at her. "You're in a good mood. Come on, what went right?"

Maria shrugged, weighing the choices of telling James about the dance. "Can't I just be happy?"

"You're not normally happy. Did your mother get a raise or something?" 

"Maybe," Maria replied. "Why are you interrogating me?"

James didn't reply, choosing instead to focus on his drink. Maria sighed and leaned forward to put her drink on the coffee table. Her phone buzzed and slid a few inches across the table. Hesitantly, she reached for it, glancing out of the corner of her eye at James. He cocked an eyebrow but didn't stop her, and so she picked it up and scanned the message bar at the top for the Skype notification. 

James didn't question her until she had finished typing out a message to Eliza, saying how she couldn't talk right now, and put the phone back facedown on the coffee table. "Who was that?" he asked, a hint of something behind his voice. 

"Just my cousin," she lied quickly. If she mentioned the dance, or even Eliza's name, he would get suspicious. "Asking if we could hang out. Just told her I couldn't talk."

James nodded. "That's it?" 

She nodded. "Of course! Wouldn't want to interrupt  _ our _ time," she said, picking up her glass. 

James smiled approvingly. "Of course not," he replied. 

Maria hid her face behind her cup and shuddered a bit. This wasn't the first time James had been  _ controlling  _ like this; he had been more overprotective and wary for six months or so, nearly half of their relationship. 

It hadn't always been like this. Maria didn't always have to be so cautious around her boyfriend, nor did she think she should have to at all. And yet she couldn't bring herself to break up with him; after all, she had a bit higher status in society because of him. Plus, he hadn't  _ hurt _ her, just made her a bit wary, and she was certain it was only a phase. In a few more weeks, he would be back to the caring man she had fallen in love with at first.

Right?

Of course. She was stupid to think otherwise. 

She put her cup down and wiped her mouth, casting a quick glance towards him. 

What would she do if it didn't?

***

Eight o'clock signaled her mother coming home, and James heading off. Maria sat on the couch and flipped absentmindedly through the novel her mother had assigned for her, her eyes skimming the pages without reading anything. She sighed and closed the book over her thumb. Maybe once her mother had gone to sleep she could read the CliffNotes.

"Maria?" her mother called from the kitchen. "You okay?" 

Maria looked up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You're strangely quiet. Believe me-" her mother laughed "-I would know."

Maria sighed and nodded, chuckling a bit. "I'm fine, Mom, just a bit distracted." She turned her eyes back to the book, her attention drifting off again.

Her mother laughed. "If you say so." 

Maria shook her head and tried again to focus on the book. She had to read the assignment tonight or she was going to fall behind. Steeling herself, she stared directly at the book, an intent glare in her eyes for a full ten seconds, before sighing and flopping against the arm of the couch. she closed her eyes and stared at the ceiling.  _ Fine, I'll bite _ . With that, she scooped up her phone and sent off a quick message to Eliza.  _ [ i can talk now. ]  _

The response was nearly immediate.  _ [ Yus. Perfect timing man, just ifnished dinner. ] _

_ [ you eat dinner at a sane time??? moms cooking rn :/ ] _

_ [ wow. that is late. ] _

_ [ Peggy's complaining about the dishes x"D it's really funny ] _

_ [ whose peggy??? ] _

_ [ Oh. My younger sister. She's cool ] _

_ [ lol oki man ] _

_ [ fuuuck homework ] _

_ [ I know, right?!?!? ] _

_ [ honestly pointless. ] _

_ [ mhm. ] _

_ [ have to read wonder forsome stupid reeson ] _

_ [ Rip. ] _

_ [ Yo, random question ] _

_ [ hm??? ] _

_ [ When could we hang out? ] _

_ [ like at the mall? or something ] _

Maria paused, thumbs hovering over the touch keyboard. "Hang out…?" she said aloud.  _ [ im not sure if i can??? ] _ That was an honest answer. She didn't know. She swallowed.  _ [ not on the wknds or something i gues,,, idk ] _

_ [ Wha? Why not? ] _

She bit her lip.  _ [ long story,,, ] _

_ [ What about after school sometime? Like, on a Tuesday lol ] _

_ [ maybe. have to chk w/ mom ] _

_ [ Eyy~ ] _

_ [ Actually, Tuesday sounds good lol ] _

_ [ mhm. think tht i can do it too lol ] _

_ [ Yiss ] _

_ [ When do you get off school then? ] _

_ [ im homeschooled so i thnk i can meet u ] _

_ [ Nice nice lol ] _

_ [ Meet me after school then? ] _

_ [ ye sure whtvr ] _

_ [ plz use vowels XD ] _

_ [ shhhh u kno me ] _

_ [ Yeah, your spelling SUCKS ] _

_ [ shaddup D: ] _

_ [ lol Sorry  _ **_pat_ ** _ ] _

_ [ Anyway you know where Catherine's Girls School is? ] _

_ [ ye what time like two forty somthing???? ] _

 

_ [ Sure. Out front, I'll be with my sisters or something. ] _

_ [ gr8 ] _

The message sound chimed on her phone. Raising an eyebrow, Maria pulled down the message bar and gasped a bit. James had messaged her Skype.  _ [ You're online ]  _ the message read. Maria swallowed and quickly tapped out a response to him, before shooting Eliza a reply. 

_ [ i gtg sry ] _

_ [ Okay, bye! ] _

_ [ See ya Tuesday :D ] _

_ [ ye cya then ]  _

She smiled softly at her phone, waiting until the message tone chimed again to answer her boyfriend.  _ [ You know how odd that is. You don't really use your Skype all that much ]  _

The smile faded. The question earlier shouldn't have been what had gotten into  _ her _ , it should have been what had gotten into  _ him _ . 

Cautiously, she began to text him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO I KNOW IT SAYS THERE'S GONNA BE DARK
> 
> The next chapter is going to be fluffy in the beginning and then lean darker... then the chapter after shit starts happening. 
> 
> Sorry if this sems fluffy haha
> 
> it's... angst in disguise


	3. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thunderstorms and alternate situations.

Thunder boomed outside as sheets of rain pummeled the thick glass windows of the room the Schuyler sisters were sitting in. Peggy was sitting on one end of the corduroy couch, staring out of the window and resting her chin on her knees. Angelica was standing up right in front of the window and sighing. And Eliza was sitting on her legs on the other side of the couch, texting. 

"Y'know, Theo got tickets to a baseball game today," Peggy moped. 

"Rip," Eliza said, glancing up from her phone screen. "It's only postponed so it'll probably happen tomorrow or something."

" _ Yeah _ , but it was gonna happen today. You can still text your girlfriend so you're not in emotional trauma over missing something important." 

"Maria is  _ not _ my girlfriend, and for the record, I'm texting Alex. So ha." She held up her phone to reveal that, yes, she was indeed texting Alexander.

"Man. Your face is the same color as Angelica's cardigan though, so I'd qualify that as a success." Peggy giggled as she finished.

"At this point, that's not even a feat," Angelica called over her shoulder, "given how head-over-heels she is."

"I am  _ not _ ."

"Your brilliant red cheekbones suggest otherwise," Angelica teased. 

"Do you guys have nothing better to do?" Eliza whined, putting her phone down.

"Mm… nope, not really," Angelica said, whilst Peggy said, "Nah, nah."

"Screw you guys then." Eliza crossed her arms. "I'm not gonna answer you."

Peggy turned to look at Angelica. Angelica looked back. "Have fun with that," Angelica said in disbelief. 

Eliza turned her attention towards her phone, which had vibrated across the couch cushion until it was almost on the floor, and scooped it up. She unlocked it and answered Maria's text almost instantly. 

_ [ yo gess who might possible lose power ] _

_ [ THIS gal :D ] _

_ [ Rip that sucks ] _

_ [ Hey at least you haven't yet ] _

_ [ ye small favors lol ] _

_ [ how bad is it at ur place???? ] _

_ [ Not too bad. It's pouring. ] _

_ [ mhm. its loud af like all that thunder ] _

_ [ shaking the windows im scared lol ] _

_ [  _ **_pat_ ** _ ] _

_ [ We still on for Tuesday? ] _

_ [ hell ye ] _

_ [ dw its gonna be gr9 m9 ] _

_ [ gr-nine? ] _

_ [ yes. gr9. ] _

_ [ dont judge ] _

_ [ No judgey ] _

_ [ perfect ] _

_ [ sigh im so bored ] _

_ [ Me too. My sisters aren't helping ] _

_ [ u hve sistersssss???? ] _

_ [ Yeah two, Angelica and Peggy ] _

_ [ I told you about Peggy ] _

_ [ I have to go. ] _

_ [ Oh. Mk, bye. ] _

_ [ See ya Tuesday! ] _

Eliza paused. "Huh…" she mused. 

"Hey, Eliza's back from la-la land!" Peggy teased. "What's up?"

Eliza didn't even react to the dig, her brow furrowed in confusion. She shrugged. "Nothing…?" she said tentatively.

"What's wrong?" Angelica said, in that tone of voice that signified her disbelief. 

"Uhm… nothing, I think." Eliza shrugged and put her phone face down on the couch again. 

"Oh please don't tell me she found out via text," Peggy said, raising an eyebrow.

"What?  _ No _ ." Eliza sighed. "Do I have to remind you again she has a boyfriend?" 

"Well, if that's not it, what is it?" Peggy asked, tilting her head like a dog. 

Eliza made a face. "I'm not sure. Something about her last text just feels… off. Like really off." She picked up her phone again and stared at her reflection in the black screen. "Like it was someone else?" 

Angelica raised an eyebrow and held out her hand. "Show me."

Eliza nodded and unlocked her phone. "This." 

Angelica took the phone and read the text out loud. "'I have to go,'" she said incredulously. "That's… that's it?" 

"No, look at her other texts." Eliza reached over and scrolled through the other conversations. "See? Her texting changed. Like, big time," she said, sitting back on her ankles. 

"Maybe she's trying to emulate you?" Peggy asked. "I mean, I know you text with like perfect grammar because you make me feel stupid." She made a blank face. "Not as great as Angelica's though. Then I feel really, really,  _ really _ stupid." 

"Oh, relax," Angelica said. "Although you're right. There is a strange difference."

"It's so sudden too, which is… weird." Eliza tapped her chin. "I can't figure it out."

"Is there anyone who might take her phone?" Angelica questioned, handing the black iPhone back to her sister.

"I mean, her mom, but her mom doesn't seem like that kind of person from what Maria's said about her," Eliza began. Her eyes drifted to the corner of the room. Suddenly, an oppressively loud blast of thunder rattled the windows, jolting the sisters and flickering the lights ominously. 

"Anyone else…?" Angelica prodded, her attention sliding over to the tall window behind them.

Eliza frowned. "Her boyfriend. But boyfriends don't take their girlfriends' phone without warning like that." She paused. "Although she's complained about him being…  _ clingy _ or overprotective before…"

Angelica narrowed her eyes and swiveled her gaze back towards Eliza. "Taking someone's phone doesn't seem protective, it seems controlling," she said, leaning against the couch. 

"Yes but--" Eliza stared at Angelica "--she hasn't mentioned this…"

Angelica shrugged and closed her eyes. "It's only a thought."

Lightning pierced the sky outside, followed instantaneously by the loudest, longest thunderclap yet. Eliza frowned at her phone.

"I suppose…"

***

Maria gasped and pulled her forearm free from James's grip, rubbing at the crescents where his fingernails has dug into her skin. She winced and stared at her wrist, startled at the drops of blood beading in them. James had drawn blood… over  _ what _ ? Her gaze flickered from the tiny cuts on her skin to James. "What the hell…?" she whispered.

"What?" he said, tapping something on her phone.  _  No! Please don't you dare… _

"I said, what the  _ fuck _ ," Maria said, this time with semi-wavering conviction. "That really hurt…"

"Who's this?" he asked, ignoring her. 

"Her… Eliza. Doesn't matter. Gimme my…" She trailed off as he shot her a glare. 

"Eliza?" he asked. "I don't remember you mentioning her."

She swallowed. James hadn't done this since the last time she had mentioned meeting someone, and he hadn't done this before she had told him… "...I… didn't.." she stammered, her limited determination draining out of her. "I didn't think I had to…"

" _ We _ don't keep secrets in a relationship," he replied, shutting her phone down. "Now do we?"

Maria couldn't respond to this. She opened and closed her mouth. "I…" she began pathetically. 

Lightning arced across her window, a brilliant flash that blinded her for a second. 

"Well?" James said. 

She stayed silent, not wanting to risk angering him any further. She hated making him upset like this, or, more accurately, hated this moment in time. He had never lashed out at her physically, never drew blood when they fought, and since they had been fighting a lot since she told him her secret those six months ago. Before then, sure, he had been protective, but not to this degree. Frankly, it was a little scary, the way he insisted on knowing every detail of her personal life.

"Hm. Since you can't answer  _ that _ question, I'll ask another one," James said, interrupting her thoughts. "What's happening on Tuesday?" 

"Nothing," she mumbled, hating herself for how pathetic she sounded. 

"What did you say?"

"I said nothing!" she shouted. Her arm throbbed where James had grabbed it; she realized she was probably giving herself  a bruise from the way she was rubbing it so violently. The tiny blood droplets stained her fingers. Her hands trembled. 

"Nothing, you say?" he said, staring down at her. 

"Yes! Nothing! Nothing like what you're thinking… she has  _ sisters _ , so even if I meant to--"

"I don't care." Those three words silenced Maria. 

Another flash of lightning, another crack of thunder, and the lights flickered and went out. She swallowed the fear in her throat and averted her eyes from James. "But I…" she began.

"I don't trust you,  _ especially _ now that it's almost happened once," he continued. 

"But I don't even…" she tried again, voice wavering with every syllable.

"Block her. Delete your Skype. If I find out you're talking to her again," he paused, "there will be worse consequences than a few scratches."

_ Dammit _ , her lip was trembling. "Lemme do it…" she whispered, reaching out for her phone. 

"Go ahead. Since I can see I'm not wanted her, I'm leaving," James said, handing her her phone back. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Maria nodded slowly, swallowing hard and sinking into the couch. Her hand wrapped tightly around her phone and sighed, shaking her head a bit. She waited until the door outside clicked shut before pressing her head into her palms. "Delete my Skype," she whispered. "That's a bit… harsh." She sighed and looked through her fingers, phone dropping pathetically to the carpeting. "Well...I'm not going to." She smiled shakily. "That seems like a good.. idea." 

She leaned against the wall and stood up. "Guess I gotta wait for the power to come back on," she muttered, looking out into the pouring rain. 

As she gazed into the sheets of water that pummeled her bedroom window, she sighed again. "I guess I should call off Tuesday…"

She swore something inside her pained a little at the thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohoho. Things are starting to pick up! A bit. Don't worry, it'll get worse. :D
> 
> god i love/hate fucking up my characters' lives :D
> 
> also the next update might e slower :/ idk where to go next.


	4. Tuesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Against her better judgement, Maria decided to NOT call off hanging out with Eliza on Tuesday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated so fast ahah this will not last forever
> 
> Also coupla headcanons:  
> Angelica is highly empathetic (extremely so to her sisters). Angelica is also very good at figuring out when people are lying.

Maria hadn't the heart to reschedule Tuesday, so here she was, waiting just outside the front of Catherine's School For Girls, looking around anxiously for someone she knew. The bell had yet to ring, so she was just being overly apprehensive, but she couldn't help it. Besides looking for Eliza, she was also keeping an out for James, or any of his friends. If his previous behaviors continued, he would not trust her.

She pressed her back against a thin tree near the gates and stared at the large, ornate building. It was definitely pretty, and it looked incredibly expensive. Private schools almost always were. She closed her eyes and rested the back of her head against the tree.

There was a faint buzz from the inside of the building. Maria opened one of her eyes and looked at the building. The gates had opened and she could see that people were starting to file out of the doors. She grinned, then pushed herself off of the tree and walked towards the school. She climbed the front steps and stood to the side, looking through the windows and through the crowd that had started to exit the building. A few people noticed her, and she grinned awkwardly and ignored them. Absentmindedly, she fidgeted with her fingers while she waited.

She leaned awkwardly against a pillar and shut her eyes, swimming in her thoughts. She was brought back into the real world by someone tapping her shoulder. "Maria?" the girl said.

Maria blinked. "Eliza!" she said, grinning again. "You look different in a Catholic school uniform."

Eliza looked down at the green polo shirt and black skirt she was wearing. "It's technically not a Catholic school uniform but yeah," she said, shrugging. "I was looking for you out by the gates."

"Oops. We probably should have set a meeting spot," Maria mused. 

"In hindsight… yeah, we should have." Eliza shrugged. "Oh well."

"Yep." Maria began walking down the steps. Eliza followed and hopped after her.

"Wait up!" she said. "My legs aren't as long as yours."

"Sucks to be you!" Maria teased, even as she stopped.

Eliza made a face, then stopped. "Oh yeah," she said. "I have to get my sisters."

"Why?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We walk home together."

"You  _ walk _ ?" Maria groaned. "How far?"

"Not too far. It takes about ten minutes." Eliza nudged Maria's shoulder with her elbow. "You'll be fine."

Maria shrugged. "I'm a fatass, if you can't tell," she said, poking her stomach.

"Nah, you're not." Eliza laughed. "There's way worse out there. Plus, you're like… like a pillow. You're soft. It's kinda cute!" She grinned awkwardly.

Maria turned pink. "Are you  _ flirting _ with me?"

"Wh-what?" Eliza said.  "No! Why would I do a silly thing such as  _ that _ ?" 

Maria shrugged. "Platonic flirting much?" 

"No. No flirting at all." Eliza shook her head quickly, fidgeting with her backpack strap.

Someone behind them burst out laughing. " _ Flirting _ ? Man, this is some saucy stuff!" 

" _ Peggy _ ," Eliza groaned, turning around.

Maria turned around as well. The girl who had spoken, Peggy, was grinning widely. She had her hair pulled back into a low ponytail and looked only very slightly like Eliza. Maria shrugged mentally. "Uh, hello," she said, awkwardly smiling.

"Hullo," Peggy said. "Were you guys gonna wait for me and Angelica or were you just going to go ahead, 'Liza?" 

"We had stopped, if you hadn't noticed," Eliza retorted. "Wow. That made the conversation awkward."

"You guys did that to yourselves~!" Peggy sang. "So, uh, I'm gonna assume you're Maria and say hi, I'm Peggy-slash-Margarita but please call me Peggy, pretty please?" she said to Maria.

"Ye, I'm Maria," she said, laughing. "Nice to meet you?" 

"You're tense. Wow. Don't worry, I'm not the one who bites!" Peggy replied. "Speaking of the one who's likely to bite, Angelica's coming. She had to use the bathroom, if you know what I mean." She sighed. "So we're sitting here for a few minutes."

Eliza laughed. "When she says 'likely to bite', she means protective," she said, patting Maria's shoulder. "You'll be fine."

Maria laughed. "Yeah, cause your sister's totally a vampire."

"She could be. I mean she stays up late a lot and drinks red juice and likes red," Peggy said.

"Angelica's the one who forces us outside every summer," Eliza said back. "I really doubt she's a vampire."

"Maybe she's a werewolf then! She likes dogs," Peggy said.

"Are you purposely trying to scare me?" Maria asked. "It ain't working."

"Aw, man, she saw right through me," Peggy replied. Eliza rolled her eyes. 

"I'm good like that," Maria said, shrugging. 

"Oh, what else are you good at?" Peggy said, waggling her eyebrows. "I'm sure that some people here might--"

" _ Stop _ ," Eliza said. "Please."

"Aw. You're no fun."

"There you are!" another person called, presumably Angelica. 

"Finally!" Peggy said, waving her hand up. "You took forever. Now we can go home and I can get out of this stupid uniform." She picked at her skirt and started to walk down the sidewalk.

Eliza sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Yeah, we should." 

"...Hi." Maria waved awkwardly and suddenly felt very out of place among the trio. 

Angelica, since that was probably who it was, looked up from adjusting her backpack. "Hello. You're Maria?" she asked.

"Yup. I don't know how I should feel about everyone knowing me," Maria said shrugging.

"Popular?" Peggy offered. "Trust me, it's not what it should be."

"Huh?"

Peggy made a blank face. Eliza spoke instead. "That's a story for uh… some other time," she said. "Don't worry about it." She shrugged. "Let's go."

***

Eliza was internally dying. After all, she was lying on her bed right next to Maria, watching Netfliz on her laptop, and eating pretzels out of a clear plastic bowl right between the two of them. They were just about touching too. She focused her attention on the movie to try and avoid blushing. 

Sometimes, being helplessly in love with someone sucked.

"We're out of pretzels," Maria said, suddenly, popping the last one in her mouth. 

"I can go get more," Eliza suggested, leaning on her forearms.

"I mean you don't have to…"

"No, it's okay!" Eliza sat up and picked up the bowl. "It sounded like you wanted more , so."

"You  _ did _ eat three-quarters of the bowl," Maria mused. 

"...Yeah, sorry. I'll go get some then, kay?" Eliza pushed off the bed and picked up the plastic bowl. 

"Mkay. Want me to pause the movie?" Maria's finger hovered over the space bar.

"Nah, I've seen this movie like a hundred times. I'll be right back!" With that, she left the room, and headed downstairs to the pantry. 

As she passed through the living room, Peggy bounced over towards her. "So, how's the date going?" she teased.

Eliza mentally cursed the heat prickling at her face. "It's  _ not _ a date, Peggy," she said, opening the cabinet door and reaching for the pretzels. "Who put them back on the top shelf?"

"Peggy…" Angelica said from the kitchen, shaking her head. 

"I'm just being a little sister~!"

"You're being annoying," Eliza mumbled, straining for the bag of pretzels.

"A-K-A, a little sister."

Angelica sighed and rolled her eyes. "Need help, 'Liza?"

"Yes. Thanks." Eliza stepped back as Angelica got them for her. 

"No problem." Angelica laughed. 

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Peggy called, jogging out of the pantry. 

Eliza set the clip around the bag on the counter and poured the remainder of the bag into the bowl. "Who could that be?"

Angelica shrugged. "I don't know… But it doesn't seem right."

Eliza nodded and looked away from the door, closing the bag loudly. Peggy's conversation with their visitor drifted to her ears.

"Hello. Who're you?" 

"James…. I'm here for Maria." 

Eliza nearly dropped the bowl of pretzels. She looked up at Angelica, who looked back with confusion and apprehension that mirrored what Eliza was feeling. "Maria?" Peggy asked from the front door.

"Yes. I know she's here… Her mother's worried about her."

Angelica shook her head. "He's lying…" she whispered. 

Eliza nodded. "Can you watch the pretzels?" she asked quickly, putting the bowl back on the counter. "I'm going to ask Maria about this…"

Angelica nodded. "Good idea."

"Um… I can go get her," Peggy said. "Maria! There's someone named James looking for you?" she called, just as Eliza ran through the front hall and up the stairs. She jogged down the hall and into her room. Maria looked up from the bed just as she entered, looking tense and nervous. 

"What's happening?" Eliza asked, sensing that there was more to this situation then was being let on.

"I don't know how he knew I was here," Maria mumbled, not exactly to Eliza.

"What?" Eliza kicked the door shut and walked over to Maria. "What's going on?" 

Maria shook her head. "I… I don't know how to explain right now. I have to go then…"

"He's  _ lying _ ," Eliza said quickly. "Can't you hear that--"

" _ He _ is my boyfriend--" Maria began, fumbling among the blanket for her phone "--and if I don't get downstairs now I'm in some deep shit." She scooped up her phone and slipped it in her pocket. "I'm sorry but I gotta go _ now _ ." She slid off the bed and sighed. "Thanks for having me over." She gave Eliza a quick hug. "Bye."

Eliza tensed at the hug. "But what's ha--"

"Also, I had to get a new Skype. m.aries1828. The other one got… hacked." Maria shrugged. "See ya," she said, with an attempt at nonchalance that failed, miserably. 

"Bye…?" Eliza said, blinking.  _ What just happened _ ? she asked herself as Maria practically ran down the stairs. After a few seconds of pondering, she jogged downstairs herself, just in time to see Maria leave. She stopped at the front window and watched a beaten up black Honda pull out of the driveway. She pressed her nose to the glass and stared for a full minute. 

"Eliza? You okay?" Peggy asked, tapping her shoulder.

She pulled away from the glass and shook her head slowly. "I'm okay..." She trailed off, taking a deep breath. "But I don't think Maria is…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happiness can't last forever...
> 
> Also Peggy's popular comment? The context is going to be mentioned later in this story. Don't worry!


	5. Psychological Plaything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shit hits the fan for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY.
> 
> I'm waiting for this to fizzle out.
> 
> ALSO TW: VIOLENCE. Nothing too bad but this chapter is the first... heavy hitter *badumtss*

Maria had almost made it into the backseat. Almost. James had dragged her out of the back and into the passenger seat practically, and now she was staring furiously at the window, angry at the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.  _ Fuck _ . She should have called off today, blocked Eliza, and just forgotten that the other girl ever existed. Because now James, her boyfriend, was pissed. One look in his smoldering eyes had told her that. 

She swallowed the lump in her throat again and forced herself to take deep breaths. Something about how James was behaving scared her to the core: his silence. It was almost as if he was letting his anger fester in him and grow until finally, when he knew they were in complete privacy, it would all be let out at once. But how? 

Her eyes drifted over towards him and she quickly flicked them away, staring determinedly at the few gray clouds left behind from the weekend's rainstorms. She didn't want to think of whatever "worse than a few scratches" meant. She dropped her gaze to her arm. Little half-moons were barely visible from Saturday's ordeal. She shook her head. He wouldn't do anything too bad. He couldn't.

The little fantasy she was crafting for herself was falling apart every time she risked a glance over to James. She shook her head the tiniest amount.  _ What's the truth…? _

The beat up car pulled up with a loud rattling next to Maria's tiny house. Of course. The house that no one would be home at. Her mother had left for the night shift ten minutes ago. It was scary how well he knew her schedule. She shuddered a bit as the word  _ stalker _ crossed her mind. But he couldn't be a stalker. Her brain was swimming in a mixture of denial and fear. She shivered a bit. 

The door locks clicked and she got out before James could and ran up to the house. Maybe if she could get there in time she could lock the door and he would go away…

The toe of her sneaker caught on the small step leading to the path to the front door and she hit the ground her, bits of rock and gravel digging into her skin. She winced and pushed herself up. James had caught up because of her clumsiness. Sometimes, it was the little flaws that she hated the most. Brushing pebbles off of her elbows, she walked up the three short steps to the boxy building that was her house and through the door that James was holding open for her. 

She walked into the living room and hissed as a small amount of blood from her scraped up elbows colored her fingers. "What?" James asked from behind her. 

"I scraped my elbow," she replied, turning around.

James nodded, slowly shutting the door. "I can help with that," he said. 

Then, he slapped her. Hard.

Her vision went black for a second at the impact and she stumbled backwards. Sharp pain spread from her cheek across her face, eventually fading into a dull stinging sensation. She gasped, tripping over her own ankle, and hit the ground, with a loud thump. Her heart pounded in her ears. she sat up and scooted against the wall. "What was that…" she breathed, looking up at James in fear.

"You little  _ bitch _ ," James growled, storming forward and crouching in front of her. "What did you do?"

"I… I'm sorry," she said pathetically, every single muscle in her face it seemed trembling with the urge to cry. 

"You know, there was a reason I told you  _ not _ to talk to her again," he continued, grabbing her collar and forcing her to her feet. "Because I know you. I know you how work." He was practically spitting in her face, and she shied away. Normally she and James were about the same height; she felt dwarfed by him right now.

"W-what are you talking about?" she asked hesitantly. This was new. Incredibly new. 

James growled. Wrong answer. "You know exactly what I mean,  _ dyke _ ," he spat, throwing her to the ground again. She slammed into the wall, pain and every ounce of oxygen in her lungs shooting out of her upon impact. "You and your  _ slutty _ behaviors. Honestly, I was waiting for something like this to happen." His eyes were burning hot through her skull. 

"I wasn't… I don't…" she whispered, gasping for breath. Tears once again pricked at the edges of her vision, and they spilled down her cheeks all at once as she was more focused on breathing steadily.

"Oh look, you're crying. How pathetic, how  _ weak _ . You know, for someone who seems to deadset on disobeying her boyfriend, you sure are pitiful." He chuckled drily, even though there was no humor in his eyes. "What, you don't have a spine under all  _ that _ ?" He sighed. "Get up." 

Efforts on her part to stop crying were futile. She choked back a sob and shook her head, bringing her knees to her chest.

"Get. Up." 

She stared at the ground, covering her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't cry out loudly. 

"Oh, for  _ fuck's _ sake…" he growled under his breath. He stood up and grabbed her forearm, yanking her up roughly. She clenched her jaw and tried to pull away, only to wince when he dug his nails in again. With his other hand, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "Hey." 

"Let me go…" Maria whimpered. 

He sighed, closing his eyes. 

A week ago, Maria would have loved being this close to him. Now she just wanted to get away. She squirmed and tried to force herself away from him again. That didn't last. The distance between them disappeared because he kissed her. Quickly, Maria pulled away. 

"N-no…" she said, shaking her head and forcing herself away. 

"You know I'm only doing this because I don't want to lose you, right?" he said, his voice low. 

_ Doing what? Hitting me, calling me a slut? Because you love me? What kind of twisted logic is this?  _ she wanted to say. 

She couldn't bring herself to say the words. Her lips tasted like acid from the kiss. All she could do is mumble, "Lose… me?" in that pathetic tone of voice she had easily figured out he hated.

"Yes. Lose you." He released her from her grip. She took two large steps away and circled around so she was near the door, rubbing her forearm gently. She could see a thin smear of blood from her elbow on the wall and gagged. 

"Maria~?" James said in a sing-song voice. It was sugary sweet. The way he switched from pure anger to suddenly this sweet persona terrified her in a way that his silence before could barely reach. She swallowed. 

"Please stop…" she whispered. 

"Stop what?" 

"This, I… I have to…" she trailed off, unsure of where she was going with this. It was like she had gone numb, like the ends of her nerves had been burned away and now she couldn't feel pain anymore. This was too much for her to handle right now. "...I have to go." Before James could respond, she whirled around, threw the door open, and booked it, sprinting down the street towards God-knows-where. She knew that James would catch up quickly in the car, but she didn't care. She had to leave. She couldn't stand that personality change. 

In the distance, she heard a car. She ducked onto the main road and found her way towards the local library. James wouldn't expect her in there. She burst through the doors and located the room with the beanbag chairs. She curled up in one, letting the chair absorb her.

She cried. 


	6. Falling Apart, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria is in denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I started three chapters in a row with Maria next one's Eliza I swear

Her phone screen was cracked right in the middle, a spider-web of dangerous lines and fragments that covered the clock so badly it couldn't be read. Maria stared at it and tentatively ran her fingers over the cracks, narrowing her eyes. She must have dropped it when she ran away, or sat on it at the library, or fell on it when James had pushed her. 

She closed her eyes. Some part of her wished it had all been a dream, but the smear of blood on the wall was enough to prove that it wasn't. She wrapped her hand around her phone and sighed shakily. Yesterday had been nothing more than a disaster. 

"Maria? Are you okay?" her mother called from the hallway. 

"Uhm…" Maria mumbled, looking at the ground. "I guess."

"What's on your mind?" her mother asked, leaning on the doorway.

Maria tensed, eyes drifting to the bloodstains on the wall. "Uhm. It's… It's nothing." She couldn't bring herself to tell her mother about what had happened yesterday. "Just a bit upset about nothing. I'll get over it." She laughed awkwardly. "It's that time." 

"Ahh. Gotcha." Her mother nodded. "I'll leave you alone… What's that?" She was about to leave when she stopped and pointed at the stain.

"Uh, I just had a klutzy episode," Maria said quickly. "I can clean it up."

"Could you do that? I have to head off for work," her mother said. 

"I'll get right on it." 

Her mother smiled at her, then disappeared. Maria sighed and sat on the rough gray carpeting, running her fingers through the knots. She felt she had to apologize for yesterday's disaster,yet something was keeping her from picking up the phone and texting Eliza. 

_ Fear _ .

She sighed. Fear? That couldn't have been it. She chuckled daily at herself. What did she have to be afraid of?

James.

She swallowed something. "It's stupid," she mumbled to herself. "I…"

Her phone buzzed across the floor. Cautiously, she bent to pick it up. When she flipped it over, she tensed. A Skype notification. She swallowed and unlocked her phone.

_ [ Are you okay? ] _

_ [ You went dark for over 24 hours ] _

Crap. It had been that long? Maria sighed and quickly texted out a reply.  _ [ yes fine im ok y do u ask??? ] _

_ [ You just seemed so scared yesterday ] _

_ [ If you don't mind me asking… what's going on? ] _

_ [ its a rly long story,,, ] _

_ [ Oh its okay ] _

_ [ You don't need to tell me rn ] _

_ [ rn??? ] _

_ [ ...Yeahh… ] _

_ [ I worry too much eheh ^^; ] _

_ [ o its ok ] _

_ [ i shod tell u  _

_ [ maybe in person tho,,, ] _

_ [ It's that serious? ] _

_ [ mor or less ] _

_ [ the thing is when ] _

_ [ i dont think i can just swing by ur place :/ ] _

_ [ Eh ] _

_ [ I mean I would be okay with it ] _

_ [ not u ] _

_ [ Yeah… ] _

_ [ //sigh There's gotta be some way ] _

_ [ yea,,, ] _

"Alright, I'm heading out," her mother said as she walked past. There was a jingle of keys. "Dinner's in the fridge, just heat it up tonight."

"Bye," Maria said. 

"Please do remember to eat? Don't get too caught up in texting whoever, okay?" 

"I will."

"I hope that was to the first one."

"It was. Bye."

The door clicked shut, and just like that, Maria was alone. She closed her eyes and stared at her phone. The black screen reflected her face back at her. She sighed and stood up, resting her phone on the dingy carpet she had been sitting on. Sometimes, you just had to use the bathroom.

The mirror in the bathroom wasn't the best quality, but then again nothing in this house was. It was coated in a layer of grime from the previous tenant that wouldn't come off, no matter how hard Maria or her mother scrubbed. A long crack divided it in half. Besides that, it still functioned as a mirror, and it functioned as the mirror that Maria stared at herself in while she washed her hands.  _ I wonder if James's going to come over. _

She sighed and turned off the water. He probably would, although she would like it if he didn't. She wanted to have a day that she could spend texting Eliza or looking through what little social media she had or perhaps doing literally nothing without having to wonder whether or not her boyfriend was going to make an appearance. His "surprise" visits weren't even a surprise anymore.

As she walked back to the couch, she stole a glance out the window to the side. The sky was gray, just as the weatherman suggested it would be. She didn't necessarily like the weather today, but it was bearable. She curled up on the couch and picked up her phone, planning on striking up a new conversation with Eliza when she froze, slowly lowering the phone.

"Shit," she mumbled to herself, staring at the blank television screen in front of her. " _ Shit _ ."

She covered her mouth with one hand. "Oh my  _ God _ , not again. I am not willing to risk that again, uh-uh, go away, shoo," she mumbled. "Not. Right. Now." Fuck. She put her phone face down on the coffee table and leaned back on the couch. "Besides… she's gotta be straight. There's no way in-- Wait, no, I'm straight. I have to be…" She sat up suddenly and nodded firmly. "Of course I am. Last time was a fluke and I have a boyfriend and um…" 

She sighed. "Nope. Not having this." She pressed her fingers against her temples. "I am not in love with Eliza… I am not in love with Eliza…"

A dry chuckle escaped her lips. "Hah… James was right. I really am pathetic…" 


	7. Falling Apart, p. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crap linking chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angelica, I love you, but I can't write you to save my life?

Worrying was in Eliza's nature. 

Worrying also sent her to the nurse one day, about to throw up. 

She lay in the cot in the nurses office, facing the wall so that the nurse wouldn't see her phone. Anxiety was gnawing at her stomach. She hadn't got a text from Maria in twenty four hours. Twenty five in two minutes. She stared at her phone intently before sighing and dropping it onto the pillow.

It was useless to worry. Simply fretting about whether or not Maria was okay wasn't going to do anything. Eliza couldn't contact Maria through anything but Skype, which Maria had been on "Away" for twenty five hours now. She picked up her phone and stared at again with more fury.

"Screw you too, anxiety," she mumbled against the pillow. Her stomach churned and she sighed. At best, she would get sent home. 

The curtain behind her rustled as the nurse pushed it aside. Quickly, Eliza shoved her phone against her shirt. "Eliza?" the nurse asked. "Do you think you're well enough to go back to class?"

She shook her head. "Mm-mm," she mumbled into the pillow.

"Are you sure? You've been here twenty minutes." 

She nodded slowly. She hated the psychosomatic feelings that went along with her worrying too much. Especially now. 

She could hear the nurse's sigh. "Are you trying to cut class?"

"No." She hated that the nurse didn't believe her. At this point, she just wanted to go home. It would be easier to text Maria if she was at home.

"You haven't actually thrown up, so I can't send you home…" 

There goes that plan. Eliza sighed and nodded, shoving her phone into her shirt pocket. "Okay," she said quietly, sitting up slowly. 

"I wish that we could do more to help but it seems to be mostly mental." The nurse vanished behind the curtain. "I'll write you a pass."

Eliza nodded and sighed, fidgeting with the seam of her skirt. Inside her pocket, the light on her phone flashed, signaling a message. The nurse handed her the pass before she could check it. She sighed and headed back to her French class, arm awkwardly over her stomach. 

***

Angelica tapped her shoulder on the walk home. "What's wrong?" she asked, stopping.

Eliza stared straight ahead at the lamppost on the street corner. "I dunno how to explain it," she mumbled. 

"It's Friday. Is it still Tuesday?" Angelica asked. 

"Yeah…" Eliza trailed off. "It just seemed so off."

"I'll give you that. You don't think that he's hurting her, do you?" Angelica asked. 

Eliza blanched. "I really hope not," she said, fidgeting with the strap of her backpack. "But that... " She trailed off again, eyes drifting to the flat, gray sky. She couldn't finish the sentence. Part of her believed that if she didn't say it, it wouldn't be true. 

She could feel Angelica tense beside her. "I should've known," Angelica mumbled. 

"Why doesn't she cut ties?" Eliza asked the sky. 

"Doubt she can…"

"We need to  _ help _ her." Eliza looked downward and ground her sneaker into the ground. "Like, call the police. Maybe that can--"

"I have a feeling that's going to be just the wrong thing to do." Angelica sighed. "Especially if she's really caught in  _ that _ sort of situation." 

Eliza sighed. "Then what can we do? I hate seeing her like this…"

Angelica said nothing. "I think that's your job."

"Hey! Are you guys gonna come home or not?" Peggy shouted from down the street. 

"Coming!" Angelica called back. "Let's go, 'Liza." She looked over her shoulder. "Need a movie or something?"

"Probably." Eliza shook her head to bring herself back to her sense and sped up. 

In her pocket, her phone blinked. She pulled it out and tapped the message. Just a text on Instagram. She sighed, shoulders slumping. Her stomach pulsed with the nausea that came with worry. She pressed the power button and slid her phone into her jacket pocket again. She  _ had _ to text Maria. 


	8. Happy Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something opens up, and life turns up pretty well for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Linking chapter number two
> 
> There's gonna be more shit soon do not worry :D
> 
> or worry cause i came up with said shit. 
> 
> take your pick.

The text arrived at nine-thirty-two p.m., and Eliza could practically feel the excitement in the text.  _ [ gESS WHAT ELIZAAAAAAAA ]  _ it read. Involuntarily, she grinned as she shot back a reply. 

_ [ wow. calm lol ] _

_ [ What's up? ] _

_ [ mk so so sos o ull nvr gues wht i found out!!!! ] _

_ [ Probably not :] ] _

_ [ What is it? ] _

_ [ mk so ]  _

_ [ i think we can meetup on tomorrow ] _

_ [ On tomorrow. ] _

_ [ shhh dont judhe meh ] _

_ [ but rnt u gonna ask why????? ] _

_ [ No judgey! ] _

_ [ I  _ was _ just wait lol ] _

_ [ wel,,, ] _

_ [ james is goin to like visit family over the weekend cuz he came ] _

_ [ by and told me that he was and so hes on the road rn and he ] _

_ [ would have no clue that we were hanging out!!!!!!!!! ] _

_ [ so yah we should do it ] _

_ [ bc i dout his friends would reconize me lolololol ] _

_ [ yES ] _

_ [ I mean sure ] _

_ [ wooooo ] _

_ [ we should meet up at the mall then lol ] _

_ [ that good 4 u???? ] _

_ [ Yep we can ] _

_ [ we should meet in front of dicks at like one or something ] _

_ [ EWWW NO USE ' PLZ AND WHY? ] _

_ [ chill its a joke lol ] _

_ [ ...Ohh I get it… ] _

_ [ i feel bad for laughing now ] _

_ [ Ye we can do that. ] _

_ [ perfecct!!!! ] _

_ [ cna't wait aaaaaaaa ] _

_ [ Calm child ] _

_ [ calm. ] _

_ [ but r u??? ] _

_ [ Touche ] _

Eliza jumped when someone tapped her shoulder. "Whatcha doing?" Peggy said, grinning. "Texting your  _ girlfriend _ ~?"

"Peggy I swear--!" Eliza replied, hiding her phone. "Go  _ away _ !" 

Peggy giggled, flopping back on the couch. "Man, you were so sucked into your phone! Well,  _ are _ you texting her?"

Hesitantly, Eliza nodded. "You win…"

"Score!" Peggy punched the air and laughed.

"Speaking of which--" Eliza stood up from the couch and tucked her phone in her pocket "--I gotta go ask for a ride to the mall tomorrow."

"Oh?" Peggy looked up from the couch. "Why's that?" 

"Guess!" Eliza called back as she walked out of the sitting room. 

***

Maria was grinning at her phone screen, excitement bubbling up from her chest and out in the form of her expression. James was away for a whole two days, her mother didn't have work on Saturday,  _ and _ she had a chance to hang out with Eliza. It was almost too good to be true. In fact, the second that thought crossed her mind, she froze, lowering her phone. It  _ was _ too good to be true; it was the calm before the storm. Something was going to go terribly horribly wrong after--

"...Nah," she said aloud, shaking her head.  _ My life's been shit anyway right now. This is just a reward for not going insane. _

She shrugged and rested her phone on the coffee table. Whatever depressing shit might happen afterwards could wait. Right now she was not going to think of that and was actually going to be happy  for once. That would work. She stood up and walked over to the kitchen, leaning on the doorway. "Hey, mom?" she called, knocking on the wall. 

Her mother looked up from the papers on the table. "Hm?"

"Would it be possible for me to take the car tomorrow to the mall?" she asked, swinging around the corner. 

Her mother thought for a second. Maria fidgeted while she waited. "Please…?" she asked. 

"How long?" 

"Like… a few hours…? Eliza didn't specify when it ended but it's like from one to whenever…" She trailed off, twisting the edge of her shirt between her fingers. 

Her mother sighed, gaining the look on her face that meant she was weighing the choices. "Well… I have to use the car tomorrow afternoon, have to go to the Laundromat. Could drop you off but you'd have to figure out getting back here on your own."

"That… also works! Thanks!" Maria replied. "I can probably get Eliza or whoever is picking her up to drop me off here." She grinned and began to walk into the living room when her mother stopped her.

"As payment, you're helping with dinner tonight!"

Maria nodded and turned around. Her excited grin, though, hadn't faded.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IS LIFE GOING TO BE HAPPY FOR ONCE? Short answer, this is me we're talking about so guess. Long answer: The next three(?*) chapters~
> 
> it was originally going to all be one so you are welcome
> 
> did you enjoy my dick's joke though is the true uestionn


	9. The Mall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some calm before the storm happiness.

Eliza was probably, on a subconscious level, treating this like a date. But she didn't care. Excitement was bubbling inside of her stomach, and she was beginning to get anxiety over the time like she almost always did. The clock neared one-ten. And here she was, sitting under the overhang in front of Dick's Sporting Goods, fidgeting with the seam of her skirt and wondering absently whether the gray April sky meant it was going to drizzle, waiting for Maria. 

She sighed and leaned herself against the window, legs bouncing against the wall beneath the ledge she was perched on. One of her flip-flops fell off and brick scraped the back of her ankles, but she didn't care. Currently, she was staring into the parking lot in front of her, pondering the traffic. 

A beat up black minivan rolled up to the curb, window down halfway in the passenger seat. Eliza grinned and hopped off the ledge, scooping up her fallen flip-flop and hopping awkwardly to put it on her left foot. "Hey, Maria--" she began, cut off by Maria practically jumping out of the car and ensconcing her in a hug. "Oof!" 

Maria pulled away and flicked some hair out of her face. "Whoops. Sorry." She turned back to the minivan, where another woman was getting out of the driver's seat. "That's my mom." 

Eliza waved awkwardly. "Hello, Mrs. uhm…. I don't know your last name?" she said. Wonderful first impression there. She blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Mrs. Maria's mother just laughed. "It's okay."

Maria nudged Eliza. "Come on, let's  _ go _ ," she said, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. 

"Want to get rid of me so easily, hm?" her mother said. 

"Yes. Come  _ on _ , Eliz _ a _ ," Maria said.

"Yeah, let's go!" Eliza turned to walk through the sporting goods store, then stopped. "When do you have to be back?"

"I mean you have to take me home, but I think whenever…?"  Maria looked over at her mother at that. 

"Just let me know when you're leaving here," her mother said, shrugging. "I'm going to be at the Laundromat at least six hours, so I'm in no place to get you."

"Understood!" Eliza said. 

"Six?" Maria tilted her head. "But it's just us…"

"And an entire basket of towels, four pairs of sheets, six pillowcases, and the couch cover. We haven't done those in weeks."

"Right." Maria nodded, then turned around and began to push through a rack of jerseys. "Well, bye until… whenever," she called.

"Yeah! Uh… We'll be seeing you then!" Eliza said, waving awkwardly and turning to follow Maria. "Wait!"

Maria slowed down to a halt, resting her hand on a rack of baseball caps. 'What?" she teased.

"My legs aren't as long as yours." Eliza pouted.  She stared up at Maria. 

"Not my fault!" Maria grinned. "Since we're obviously not staying here, where are we going to go first?" 

Eliza rolled her eyes, then looked up at the high ceiling. "Well... I don't know. How much money do you have?"

"Sixteen bucks and thirty-seven cents." Maria hissed through her teeth. "Yeah, I forgot to ask Mom for more."

Eliza patted her shoulder. "It's only three-sixty-three less than I have so..." she said. "Wanna pool our money?" 

"Eh. I mean, if you want. Just don't go spending exactly sixteen dollars and thirty seven cents just to spite me." Maria stuck her hand in her pocket and fished around for it. "Should we put in one wallet?" 

"That works! I think I have space in my bag." Eliza popped open the snap on her clutch. 

"Perfect! Cause there are about seven ones." Maria stared into her wallet. 

Eliza laughed. "It's fine." 

She paused, holding her clutch in one of her hands, to take a look at exactly what Maria was wearing.  _ Why is she so pretty? _ she pined. _ And why did I feel the need to wear this? _

Maria had on a burgundy camisole under the same red jacket she had worn the last time the two had hung out, or tried to at least, torn up shorts, and beat up, older looking, off-brand Converse. Very casual. In comparison, Eliza, with a light blue sweater and pale brown skirt, looked like this was, actually, a date.  _ Maybe I should've just worn the sweatpants.  _

Maria looked up from rifling through her wallet, thrusting a handful of wrinkled bills in Eliza's face. "Here," she said, waving them around as Eliza blinked slowly back into reality. 

"Huh? Oh!" Eliza gave a tiny shake of her head before reaching up and taking the money. "Got it."

"What?" Maria said, grinning. 

"Nothing." Eliza pointedly stared at her teal clutch while she tucked the cash into it. "I thought you had change?"

"Nothing, you say? Oh, and I do, but there's a quarter and I want gum." Maria deposited her wallet back in her pocket. 

"Kay. And yes, nothing!" She looked up and smiled, closing her eyes.  _ This is awkward already. _

Maria nodded and smirked, turning on her heel. "Whatever you say, 'Liza!" she teased, waving her hand as if to signal the end of that conversation. Eliza fumed at her own stupidity and prayed that she wasn't visibly blushing.

"Stop doing that!" she said, catching up after a few quick steps. 

"Doing what?"

"Walking off without me." Eliza's flip-flops made loud slapping noises as she walked.

"Like I said, not my problem you're small!" Maria said. She froze. "What's that face?"

Eliza shook her head. "Nothing!" she said again, grateful that she had resisted the urge to reply to that comment sarcastically. "So, where're we going?"

Maria rolled her eyes playfully. "Alright, sweetheart, whatever~" she teased, skipping over the question.

Eliza chose to ignore that and instead filed it away in that subsection of her brain that spend countless hours poring over every little detail as she tried to convince herself that Maria liked her back. "That doesn't answer my question," she said instead, stopping at the exit of Dick's and staring out at the mall itself. 

Maria shrugged. "Hmm... Well, I dunno about you, but I'm kind of hungry." She shrugged.

"Already?" Eliza asked, tilting her head slightly. "It's only one o'clock."

"Guess what I had for breakfast?" Maria looked up at the upper level.

"Uhm… Pop-Tarts?" Eliza guessed. "It's that way."

"Trick question. I woke up an hour ago," Maria said. "And then Mom had to get the laundry together… and that was a mess." She shrugged. "So I didn't get a chance to have breakfast."

"Oh. Wow." Eliza began to walk towards the escalators. "Maybe food is a good idea."

"You don't say?" Maria said. "Now you're going too fast."

"Not my fault!" she called, even as she stopped. 

***

Maria had a plan. She had just needed to figure out when to put it into action.

She and Eliza were waiting in line at Subway, simply because it was cheaper than Chick-Fil-A and the line was shorter, and chatting. Well, Eliza was talking. Maria was listening and wondering what type of sub she was going to get, occasionally replying to whatever Eliza was saying. 

"Anyway, Peggy got in trouble again and the fox is now kept outside," Eliza finished. "I'm not quite sure how she managed to keep it in her room without us noticing."

"A  _ fox _ ," Maria said, shaking her head. "How?" 

"I dunno." Eliza shrugged. "You met her."

"Once. A week ago. I don't think we even had a full conversation." The line moved and Maria shifted position. 

"She'll probably be with Angelica when you get picked up." Eliza shrugged. "You can converse then. Oh, we're next!" She stepped forward and scanned the menu again. 

The cashier seemed bored when he said, "What would you like?" 

Maria was longing for fries instead of a sandwich. She picked out some random toppings and a toasted bread, then tapped Eliza's shoulder. "I'm gonna find a spot," she said. 

Eliza nodded. "Kay," she said, leaning on the counter. "Sun Chips?" 

"Sure!" Maria called back, sliding into one of the long benches with a table across from it. She proceeded to fold into her arms and sigh. If Subway served fries it would be easy and she could just walk home if it went wrong. Fries or spaghetti or something like that. Chick-Fil-A wasn't the best option but the mall didn't have a McDonald's. She sighed again, sat up, and ran the heel of her hands down her cheeks to try to calm herself.  _ This isn't fair _ , she thought. 

She looked back over at the Subway. Eliza was coming back with the sandwiches now; she'd best act natural. Maybe after lunch/breakfast/whatever this was was over, they could head to another store and Maria could try plan B, which she would come up with on the spot.

Eliza sat down in front of her and pushed the sandwich towards her. "Here," she chirped. Or maybe it would be best to stop overthinking. 

Maria picked up the sandwich. "Thanks."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3
> 
> also back chapters what is this?
> 
> aka i haven't been online in fIVE days so i had two chapters here y'all go


	10. Storm's Approaching...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seems as if the winds are picking up (metaphorically speaking)

"We have a total of sixteen dollars and thirty-seven cents now," Eliza said, dropping a crumpled Subway wrapper in the trash can.

Maria nodded and took a long sip from a bottle of Coke. 

Eliza walked out of the food court and looked around at the stores directly by them. "Where should we go now?" She turned around to look back at Maria, who shrugged. 

"Dunno, don't care," she said.

"You're such a big help, you know that?" Eliza deadpanned. 

"Aren't I?" 

Eliza rolled her eyes and turned back to the stores, looking down at the lower level. "Hmm... Well, maybe we can just go down and look at all the stores."

"Including Spencer's?" Maria asked, pointing at the spray paint-esque logo across the hall.

"...Most of the stores." Eliza looked in the other direction. "Let's start with FYE, maybe there's a movie or something." She started to walk toward the bubbly orange store a couple of stores to the left. 

"Why not?" Maria said.

"You're being too apathetic!" Eliza yelled back, her face breaking into a grin. 

Maria said nothing in response to that, just walked next to her and drank more of her Coke. Eliza couldn't help but hum a little. This was what she wanted the most, just the ability to hang out like this. She looked over at Maria through the corner of her eye. Maybe the ability to hang out like this and hold hands while doing so would be nice too.  _ What would it be like to kiss her...? _

She closed her eyes and focused on walking. Forgetting how to walk at this moment in time would be embarrassing. She focused on that and not on kissing Maria when suddenly, Maria grabbed her arm and pulled her into a store and into the back.

Looking around, Eliza realized this was Banana Republic, the store next to FYE. "Um--" she began.

"One second," Maria replied, pushing into the very back. 

"Wha?" Eliza asked when they stopped. "What's this?"

"Kay, so there's this guy," Maria said, pretending to look through a rack of shirts, "and he's one of James's friends, and, long story short, he might recognize me and that's a shit storm I do not want to happen?" She stopped rifling through the wine red camisoles and looked up. 

"So you dragged me into the back of Banana Republic to hide from him?" Eliza asked, leaning on the rack. 

"Yup." Maria stepped out from behind the rack. "Because if we stopped in the front, he might see me through the window." She sighed. "Sorry..."

"It's totally okay!" Eliza said quickly. "But I thought you said none of his friends would recognize you...?"

"This guy's an exception, except he rarely leaves the house so I thought, 'oh, yeah, no one's gonna see me.' He like, he would come over to James's place when I went over there--that doesn't happen anymore, he kinda doesn't exactly have a place anymore... even longer story--and so he knows me, really well. Not that he's a bad guy..." She paused to reword that. "I mean, he's a dick like most of James's friends, it's that he's highly, highly highly, likely to tell James that he saw me--"

"Wow." Eliza cut her off. "That's... scary."

"Not the word I'd use but whatever. It's safe now." Maria started to walk back down the storefront towards the mall.

"I mean like... kind of possessive if you're going to get in that much trouble if you're seen with me..." Eliza said, and immediately regretted it when she saw Maria's expression change. "Oops..."

"Possessive? What do you mean?" Maria said quickly, almost too quickly it seemed. "Nah… he isn't like that." She turned away from Eliza. 

Eliza stared at her. "But if he's--"

"Just drop it." Maria walked as fast as she was talking.

"Okay… Sorry." Eliza shut up and jogged to catch up with her.

"It's fine…" Maria sighed. 

Eliza nodded slowly and turned into FYE.

***

_ Possessive… _

Maria picked up a CD case and turned it over, looking at the track list. Possessive was never a word she had used before to describe her…  _ situation _ before. The word have never crossed her mind, and yet it seemed to fit perfectly, especially with what had happened on Tuesday…

The back of the CD case was dark enough to reflect her face back it her. She had strategically arranged her bangs over her face to cover the yellowing bruise on her cheek, but parts of it peeked through her curls if you looked close enough. She winced a bit. It explained everything. 

She put the CD back on the rack with a  _ click _ . Part of her didn't want her to believe it. The other part of her was going all alarm bells, red flags, red alert, the whole nine yards. She shivered a bit and ran her fingers along the other CDs, walking down the aisle and skimming the covers. It just didn't seem right.

She sighed and rested her hand on edge of the CD rack. Best to stop worrying. She could deal with that later. For now…

She dropped her hand and picked up the CD. She was missing  _ this _ album. Flipping it over, she ran her fingers down the tracks and grinned. The yellow sticker on the front said the price was five-eighty-five. Cheap. Shrugging, she went to find Eliza, who had wandered over to the other side of the store, over by the candy.

Maria picked up a box of candy and looked at it, shaking it slightly. Eliza looked up. "There you are," she said, snatching the box back. 

Maria held up the CD. "I need money," she said with a blank face. 

Eliza stood up and smoothed her skirt out. "Aww, that's all I am to you?" she teased, opening her bag.

"Well, you  _ do _ have the money," Maria said. "I need.. five eighty-five…?"

"We need to account for sales tax, so… I'll give you the ten." She pressed the bill into Maria's hand and went back to examining the candy.

"Wow. One store down and we're already down to six dollars and thirty something cents." Maria headed over to the line.

"Nah, it's only going to be like.. six ish, so," Eliza called, shrugging, "about ten left."

"Why are you so good at math?" 

Eliza just shrugged and picked up a box of jelly beans, whispering, "Nerd candy, oh my god," and giggling a bit.

Maria couldn't help but keep looking over at Eliza.  _ Royally fuck this _ , she groaned internally, leaning her head on her hands. Her fingers brushed the bruise on her cheek and she winced at the tender spot. If she wanted to prevent more hits like that, maybe actively working to fall  _ out _ of love was the best idea.

Still… 

She slid the CD to the cashier and fumed silently to herself. This wasn't fair. It also was not exactly good. 

The cashier handed her the white and orange bag with the CD in it and said, "Have a nice day," in possible the most bored tone of voice one could manage. Maria nodded vaguely in acknowledgement and walked back over to Eliza. 

_ Just… do it. _

She stood there awkwardly, her feet unwilling to move. Eliza looked over. "Look, it's the candy from  _ Harry Potter _ ," she said, grinning and holding up a pale purple box. "Think I'm gonna get some." She flipped it over. "Only two bucks, nice… What?" She tilted her head, and Maria realized shehad spaced out.

"Nothing," she mumbled.  _ Or not. Later. _ "Here's the change." She dropped three dollars and sixty-three cents into Eliza's bag.

Eliza smiled. "Whatever. Lemme just get this and then we can go, sound good?"

Maria nodded. "Sure thing," she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More bridging I think? Sorry the pacing just dROPPED like that... It's kind of a writer's block in a way but not really???
> 
> (Fun fact: This is the fastest I've ever written a fanfic... like.. ever!)


	11. Q&A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> witty titles are witty

Eliza grinned at Maria, holding up the red jelly bean. "Willing to try it?" she asked.

Maria stared at it. "If that's blood or something else…" she began. 

"Don't think there is a blood flavor," Eliza said. "Well~?" She handed the bean over to Maria, who picked it up and rolled it between her fingers. Eliza grinned again. She knew exactly what flavor this was. Maria raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I don't trust you," she said.

"To be honest, you probably shouldn't in this case," Eliza said. "Eat. The. Bean."

Maria sighed, holding up her hands in surrender. "I will, chill," she said. With that, she tossed the bean back, and then proceeded to cough loudly. "Demon flavor," she mumbled when she could breathe properly again.

Eliza cracked up. " _ Demon _ ."

"Yes. Demon." Maria wiped her mouth with her wrist and glared at the purple box. "That, or cinnamon.

"I'm sorry, but,  _ demon _ ," Eliza said. "Y'know I thought you'd say that about, like, earwax."

"Eww." Maria gagged. " _ No _ thank you."

"I'm honestly surprised you've never done this before," Eliza commented, picking up the box. 

"Need I remind you, I don't get out much?"

"Whatever." Eliza chose not to comment again. She shook the box and dropped another bean into her palm. "My turn--"

Maria suddenly froze, kind of like a deer in the headlights, and cursed. "Come fucking on," she mumbled.

Eliza stopped talking and tilted her head. "What? Is he still here?" she guessed. 

"No, just paranoid." She relaxed, sighing angrily. 

Eliza nodded with concern. "Just a question, but…" she trailed off, rethinking what she was going to say, "...what exactly happened on Tuesday, after you left, and… would it happen again if you were caught?" 

Maria deflated a little. "That's not something I want to talk about--" she began.

"Please?" Eliza asked. "I'm seriously worr--"

" _ Here _ ," Maria finished. "As in, public."

"Oh." Eliza nodded, embarrassed by her jumping to conclusions. She stared at the box. "...We're out of money and it's only been an hour," she said.

"Yeah…" Maria nudged the bag on the ground with her toe. "At least we got some cheap shit."

"Mhm!" Eliza shrugged. "I usually have more money, but this was kind of rushed so…" She picked up the plastic bag and stood.

"Where are you going?" Maria asked, standing up as well.

"I have the car." She shrugged. "We could head back to my place." 

"That was a disaster last time," Maria said incredulously. "Seriously." 

"It's less  _ likely _ to be a disaster now," Eliza replied. 

"Eh." Maria shrugged. "I guess. Are your sisters gonna be home?"

Eliza shook her head. "Angelica's at work til six, and I'm almost positive that Peggy is with her friend Theo at the baseball game that was supposed to be last week but well… It stormed," she said, counting on her fingers. 

"Wait, so how did you get here then?" Maria asked. "I thought you said you needed a ride."

"Technically I  _ do _ have my liscense, but usually Angelica drives me if she has to get to work or has something else." Eliza shrugged. "Mom handed me the keys to her car and… yeah.  _ Anyway _ , the only people at my house right now are Mom and Dad." She pulled the snap case open and pulled out the car key. "So… yeah."

Maria nodded, following along. "Or is the author just trying to cover a continuity error?" 

"Probably. Wait, who?" Eliza waved her hand. "Anyway…" She held up the key with two fingers and tried her best to make it look enticing. "S _ o _ ?" 

Maria shrugged. "Sure," she said. "I mean, there's literally no chance, so…" She grinned.

Eliza grinned back and proceeded to drop the key on the floor, missing her bag. Maria giggled and shook her head as Eliza bent down to pick it up. "Wow," she said. 

"Shush," Eliza said, heat prickling at her face in embarrassment. "Let's go."

Maria rolled her eyes. "Whatever~" she said lightly.

***

"Ta-da! Welcome to a once-in-a-lifetime experience: A quiet house!" Eliza called out as she flung the door open overdramatically. 

"Once-in-a-lifetime?" Maria asked, looking around the living room. 

"Mhm. I mean, Peggy's not here, and no one's over but you…" Eliza shrugged. "Hey Dad." 

Her father looked up from the couch and waved. "Evening."

"This is Maria and we're going upstairs." She pointed vaguely in Maria's general direction and then proceeded to walk upstairs. Confused, Maria simply waved and said, "Hi," barely loud enough to be heard and followed her.

"What was that all about?" she asked as soon as they were upstairs in the central living room.

Eliza shrugged. "Nothing," she said, keeping her back turned. "What do you want to do?" 

"Nothing," Maria repeated incredulously, crossing her arms. "If you're going to bother me with questions, I can bother you." 

"You have a point… but I haven't bothered you  _ that _ much yet." Eliza turned around and sighed. "I guess I am going to though."

Maria nodded and leaned against the wall. "So," she said, dropping her hands to her sides, "what exactly do you want to know?" She raised her visible eyebrow and ignored the anxiety gnawing at her stomach. Part of her told her she was going to regret this later; the other part of her told her that someone needed to know.

Eliza thought for a second. "What…  _ exactly _ , happened on Tuesday? And…  _ why _ ?" She trailed off after her second question and sat down on the armrest of the couch.  

Maria paused, wondering how to answer the question. She kept opening and closing her mouth, trying to pick the right words so the situation  _ wouldn't _ seem as bad as it actually was. She could handle this; she knew she could. That was why she was having trouble trying to word it.

Every second that passed in the increasingly uncomfortable silence seemed to just increase the tension. Finally, Maria said something. "Y'see…" she said, trailing off. 

Eliza nodded. Maria dropped her gaze for a second, and then brushed her bangs away from her face, revealing the hideous yellow bruise that had spread across her cheek. She winced at Eliza's reaction. 

"What?" 

Maria dropped the curtain of hair back over her face. "You're smart…" she mumbled. 

"Oh my god." Eliza slid off her perch on the armrest and walked over to get a closer look. "Really…?" 

Maria stepped back awkwardly and held up a hand protectively over her cheek. "Don't--" she said. 

Eliza nodded, stepping back. "Right. Sorry." She froze there, fidgeting with her fingers. "That's from Tuesday?" 

"Yes…" Maria said slowly. 

"It looks bad… he…  _ hit _ you?" Eliza said, stating the obvious. "Wow, uhm…"

Maria smiled drily. "Yep." She sidestepped away and sighed. "And I don't know  _ why  _ he did it… I mean I guess because he's a dick but…?" she said, giving a little bit of a white lie. 

She tried her best to make it seem like she wasn't lying. "So…" She trailed off. "...I'm not being very convincing, uh, am I?" 

Eliza shook her head and bit her lip. "You  _ can _ tell me… Please…?" 

Maria flopped on the couch and sighed, leaning her head back on the back. "He's kind of always been… protective, or, I guess possessive? I dunno anymore." She pushed her away from her other eye. "It's just gotten really bad since… I um…" She closed her eyes and mumbled, "...came out…" before talking normally again. "And then some other bullshit happened with someone else and he thought I was interested in--"

Eliza coughed. "Came out?"

"Shit, you heard that." Maria grinned awkwardly. "Yeah… Guess I should tell you that so the rest of the story makes sense." She straightened up and said, "I'm bi. I think. I mean, I'm not sure?" She tilted her head. "It's really confusing." She sighed and flopped her arms vaguely. "Yeah...Moving on." 

Eliza nodded, trying her best to cover… was that a  _ smile _ ? "Okay."

"So there was this girl, and like… I kind of… sort of had a thing for her? And it wasn't even that big of a thing, but we were talking a lot. And James notices this and then, well, he kinda freaks out and stuff and forces us to stop talking. And then he starts being as protective as he is.. now. I don't even... " she trailed off and focused aimlessly at the window. 

"So you would… like… die, if you got caught again?" Eliza inferred.

Maria nodded, refusing to draw her gaze from the window. "That or… worse. I don't know what worse could be, though." She fidgeted with the edge of her shorts. "Is it my turn to ask questions now?" she said, more as a statement than a question. 

Eliza nodded. "Mhm." 

Maria thought for a second, then, deciding that asking it might be the best option, asked, "Why… do you care  _ so _ much?" She flicked her attention towards Eliza's face, and almost immediately regretted asking it because of the expression on her face. 

"Well, um… I suppose it's... " Eliza stammered. "It's like… I… I guess I care because…" 

Maria sat there, silent, waiting patiently.  She tried to stop fidgeting, futilely.

"I--" Eliza began.

She was cut off by the door slamming downstairs and Peggy shouting, "Back from the baseball game!" as loud as she probably could. "Oh, hey, 'Liza's back too!"

Maria giggled at Eliza, who had an interesting look on her face. The reason for this was became apparent when footsteps ran up the stairs and Peggy burst into the room, saying excitedly, "So, how was the da--" She cut herself off. "Oh, sup, Maria?" 

Maria was lost. She didn't comment on this, though, and waved, paying more attention to Eliza's response. Eliza appeared to be seven different shades of red and flustered. "Whoa. It was  _ not _ \--" she said quickly, glaring at her younger sister. Peggy laughed and stuck her tongue out.

"My mistake, Lizzy~!" she chirped. "So, what didja get at the mall?" 

Maria couldn't help but laugh at this. "Hang on, it's our stuff," she said.

"Nah, we can share  _ something _ ," Eliza said, holding up a small purple box. Maria nodded and smirked. 

"Ooh, what's that?" Peggy held out a hand for the box. 

"Jelly beans," Eliza said simply. 

"Aww yis, candy!" Peggy cheered, snatching the box and shaking two into her palm. "How many can I have?" 

Eliza sneaked a quick glance at Maria and winked, poorly, but it was a wink all the same. "As many as you'd like~" she said.

"Perfection!" Peggy dropped another four into her hand and handed an empty box back to Eliza. "Thank you, Eliza~!" With that, she turned to go, popping one into her mouth as she went. Maria grinned at Eliza, who held up three fingers and counted down. 

Out in the hallway, Peggy spat out something and gagged. "Gross! What the hell was that?" she cried, bursting back into the room and throwing the beans at Eliza, who unceremoniously fell off the armrest onto the couch itself, laughing hysterically. Maria grinned even wider and started to laugh even more when Peggy made a face at Eliza and said, "I am never taking jelly beans from you again!" in the most insincere tone of voice one could have. 

"Serves you right!" Eliza called after her younger sister.

Maria slowed her laughter. Oh... I get it.

A secret smile crept onto her face. Later might come sooner now. 


	12. Saturday Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria wonders if she could stay the night pretty much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise you this is the very last fluff also I'm crying because of great comet and i have about four (?) chapters written in advance up to the end of the story so this is ALMOST over. Youre welcome.
> 
> You are so going to hate me after it ends though...

Every single time she even got the slightest opportunity, it was as if an explosion of butterflies in her stomach. Every time. 

And so Maria was sitting in the bathroom, stalling for time. She was just sitting on the lid, legs bouncing off the porcelain of the toilet, and  _ hating _ how stupid it was. She shouldn't be this anxious… and yet she was. It was fucking with her stomach. 

She sighed and looked out of the window. Hiding in the bathroom was going to do anything. Maybe food would do some good. She stood up, washed her hands, and left the bathroom, poking her head around.  "Yo, Eliza?" she called, wandering down the hall towards Eliza's room.

"Did you fall in or something?" Eliza teased. "That was fifteen minutes."

"Maybe I did," Maria said. "That's for me to know and you to never, ever, find out." She flicked a strand of hair out of her face. "I'm hungry."

Eliza grinned.  "Really? After all that time in the bathroom?" She leaned on the doorjamb and swung back and forth. 

Maria rolled her eyes. "I'm always hungry,"  she replied. "It's the mark of a fatass."

"You're not fat," Eliza said, poking Maria's stomach. 

"Debatable. When's dinner?" 

Eliza shrugged. "It varies. Since we all were in high school, e.g., last year, it's kind of become whenever whoever has to cook decides to start. It was…" she trailed off, resting a finger on her chin as she thought. "Mom was cooking. It should be on the table soon." She shrugged. "If you're really that hungry I could try to get some pretzels or something." 

Maria shook her head and held up her hands. "Nah, it's all good. I can wait." She grinned a bit. 

"Works for me!" Eliza popped back into her room and meandered lazily towards her bed. Her laptop was open on top of it. Maria followed her and flopped down on the mattress.

"Have I ever told you that your bed is awesome?" she mumbled. 

Eliza faltered at that. "No?" she said. Maria could tell from her tone that she was blushing. 

"Well, it is. And I'm jealous. My mattress is too firm." She rolled around so she was facing the ceiling and laughed.  "I kinda want to ask Mom if I could spend the night." She flicked her gaze over towards where Eliza was. "If it's okay with you, course." 

Eliza looked over from her laptop, where she was scrolling through YouTube. "Perhaps. You'd have to sleep on the couch in the common room though." 

"Or the floor. Throw me a pillow and I'll be fine." Maria sat up on her forearms and looked over at what Eliza was putting on. 

"Well, I wouldn't want you on the floor…" Eliza said. "Hm… What should we watch?" 

Maria chose not to comment. "I really don't care. I'm gonna ask Mom then." She stretched so she was hanging off  the bed and texting upside down.

"Don't fall off--!" Eliza said cautiously. 

"I'll be fine." Maria flicked her thumb up in some semblance of a thumbs up and tapped out a message.

"I thought your phone didn't have a plan?" Eliza mused. 

"That was a lie. And no, you can't have my number yet." 

"Aw. Why not?" 

"Easier to talk to you with Skype, y'know, safety reasons" Maria sat up and shrugged. "What did you find?"

Eliza pointed at the screen. "It's the  _ Heathers _ bootleg. I've watched it once before and it's pretty good." She smirked. "Don't tell anyone." 

"I won't" She motioned for Eliza to scoot over. "Scooch."

"So blunt." Eliza stuck out her tongue but did so. "With our luck we're gonna get five minutes in and it's going to be dinner." 

"I know, right?" Maria shrugged and lay in front of the screen. "It seems good though." 

"Mhm." Eliza grinned and stretched out on her stomach, hitting the spacebar to start the video. She propped her chin on her forearm. "Sorry for the black screen, you'll be able to see something soon."

Maria nodded, coincidentally mimicking Eliza's posture. She paid attention to the screen, which was still black, and when that got boring, she flicked her gaze over towards Eliza. The two locked eyes for a second before bursting out laughing. 

After a few minutes, Eliza shakily sat up and tapped the pause button, giggling. "Okay, okay, what was so funny?" she wheezed, shaking her head slowly to calm down.

Maria shrugged, trying to contain the grin on her face, and failing miserably. "Don't look at me!" she said, mock defensively. "You started it."

"I did not, and you know it. See, you're grinning!" She pointed at Maria's face. 

"Well, so're you, so…" Maria shot back. 

The sheer ridiculousness of what they were arguing about hit them both at the same time and they started laughing again. Then Eliza fell off the bed. 

"Sh-" she spluttered, cutting herself off in time. Maria peeked over. 

"You okay there?" she asked. 

"Yeah--! Fine!" Eliza rolled over so she was sitting up and rubbed her back. 

"Whew. Nice panty shot, by the way." Maria grinned and leaned back so that she could only hear Eliza's reaction.

"Hey! Not-- hmm…" Eliza stood up and flopped gracefully back onto the bed. 

"You're the one who fell off the bed!" 

Eliza said nothing. From downstairs, someone called up, "What was that?" 

"I fell off the bed!" Eliza called back.

"You alright?"

"Yes, Mom!" 

Maria sat awkwardly to the side, carefully reaching for the laptop so she could watch the musical. Eliza swatted her hand away, pushing the laptop. Maria pouted. 

"It's gonna be dinner in like, a minute." Eliza said, shutting the lid. 

"You're no fair."

Eliza shrugged. "Let's just go downstairs. We could ask Mom then if you could stay overnight."

Maria grinned. "Aite then," she said, pushing herself off the bed. 

***

Dinner was nothing too fancy, just some chicken and potatoes. It wasn't even that good. Not what Maria was expecting. It was edible though, and she didn't want to be rude, so she didn't say anything. Across the table, though, Peggy was staring at her like, "Yeah, I agree."

Maria focused on pushing the potatoes around the plate. 

"Could Maria stay over tonight if she sleeps on the couch or something?" Eliza asked when everyone was nearing being finished (and also just as her father had taken a bite, Maria noted). 

Maria smiled awkwardly at Eliza's mother. "Uhm… please?" she said pathetically.

"On such short notice?" her mother said. "Is your mother okay with it, Maria?"

Maria nodded. In truth, she hadn't heard back from her mom, but she knew that it would be okay with her. "She's cool with me staying over," she said to cement it. 

"Do you have a change of clothes or anything?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She pushed the potatoes around the plate. Most boring dinner ever. She looked up at Eliza, who seemed really nervous that she'd somehow screwed up, and turned back to the plate. 

"Well… I suppose. If it's alright with your father."

Almost everyone turned their attention to the other end of the table. Eliza's father shrugged. "I guess." 

Eliza grinned. "Thank you so much!" she chirped happily.

Maria grinned as well and finished the chicken.

***

Eliza grinned and hit the escape button on her laptop, collapsing the screen on YouTube. "Well, what'd you think?" she asked. She sat up so she could better navigate YouTube. 

No response. 

"Huh? Maria?" Eliza looked up from her laptop and over towards her friend. 

Still no response except for Maria's breathing. Eliza lowered her laptop lid and rested it on the folded blanket in front of her. 

Maria was asleep. She had fallen asleep sometime while they were watching the musical, one of Eliza's pillows in her arms underneath her. Eliza smiled softly and scooted off the bed. Picking up her laptop, she shut it and slid it quietly onto her desk. Then, she grabbed the blanket it had been sitting on and rested it over Maria's shoulders. She stepped back and looked at her sleeping friend, before shaking her head to snap her out of it and realizing how creepy that was. Mentally, she shrugged. She wasn't going to wake her up to get her to move to the couch when she could just as easily sleep there herself. Stealing a quick glance at her alarm clock, she clicked the light off and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

She walked noiselessly down the hall and towards the common room, peeking inside. Angelica was sitting on the couch, her phone buzzing loudly and being ignored on the cushion next to her, and Peggy was sitting--well, mostly sitting--on the floor, playing Call of Duty. Just as Eliza walked in, Peggy stood up and dropped the controller, a loud "Goddammit!" escaping her. Eliza chuckled at her sister and sat down on the other side of the couch. Peggy immediately shut up. "Uh... What're you doing here?" she said awkwardly.

Angelica looked over and waved. "Need me to get up?" she asked, picking up her phone.

Eliza waved a hand. "Nah. Maria fell asleep and I didn't want to wake her up to get her to move here, so... I just came in here." She shrugged. 

"Aww, that's sweet," Angelica said. Peggy nodded, grinning. 

"Don't you dare, Margarita," Eliza said.

Peggy grimaced and stuck her tongue out. "That was NOT full name worthy," she said.

Angelica rolled her eyes. "When you need me to move, 'Liza, just tell me," she said. 

"You'll be good for a bit." She scooted closer to her sister. "Who're YOU texting?" 

"Thomas." Angelica yanked the phone away. "None of your business."

"Oo~" Peggy laughed. "Is he asking you through text?" 

"NO." Angelica pushed the button on the top of her phone and put it sleep. "He was just asking about the History homework. That's it."

"That's anticlimactic," Peggy replied after a pause to find the right word. "No! No, that was a head-- Screw you too, game." 

Eliza assumed a position on the center cushion, laughing. "Y'know, for all your love of other people's romance, it's a wonder you haven't gotten a boyfriend yet."

"Haven't like six asked you out?" Angelica put in. 

"It was two. And I don't want a boyfriend."

"What about girls?" Eliza asked. 

"Nah. Boobs don't do it for me." Peggy grinned, which faded quickly as she mashed some buttons. "I HATE this game." 

"No you don't. Then you'd stop playing," Angelica said coolly, unlocking her phone. 

"No one cares about logic!" Peggy said. "Ha ha, yes, die, motherfucker!" She punched the air in victory.  

Eliza rolled her eyes at her sisters and watched as Peggy threw a flash bomb unsuccessfully.

"That's some effective strategy," Angelica teased. 

"Oh, shush, you. I'd like to see you do better." Peggy made a face at the screen. "Pschew, pschew, die, no not mE--"

"You know me. I'm terrible at these games. But maybe if you paid less attention to that--" Angelica pointed at the kill counter in the corner-- "You might not die as much." 

"Isn't the point of this game to kill people?" Eliza piped up from the couch. 

"Well, yes, but not being reckless might get you more. See, you died again." 

"I'm not strategizing Call of Duty, Angie. You can, if you want to give it a shot." Peggy turned around and held up the controller.  

"Please. I'm worse than you." Angelica smirked. "Which is still a feat." 

Peggy stuck her tongue out. "At least I... At least I don't... Screw you, Angie." She turned back around towards her game.

Eliza giggled. "Ten outta ten, Peg. Ten outta ten."

"Shut up I'm trying to snipe someone!" With that, Peggy trained her attention on the game. Angelica and Eliza exchanged grins.

After a few minutes in silence, Angelica stood up. "It's nearly eleven," she said with a yawn, "I'm going to sleep."

"Night, Angie," Eliza said. Peggy said nothing, still laser-focused on her game. 

Eliza stretched out on the couch, resting her head on one of the pillows. She was tired herself. She buried her shoulder into the couch and fell asleep watching Peggy finish her game. 


	13. I'm Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria has to go home. Immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes the angst again. I should've warned you.I don't think I need to put a tw but I'm going to say it's a really angsty one in my opinion.
> 
> ((Also fair warning... I actually felt bad writing this chapter? So that means something.))
> 
>  
> 
> ((also i had like three chapters written and the ONE GOT DELETED--))

Maria woke up with a start the next morning, half in the hellish nightmare she had just broken from. Her sleep-slow brain couldn't figure out where she was, and so she panicked. 

_ I'm not at home… Oh god, did… did James get a house? Am I at his place?  _ she thought, rolling over. 

_ No wait… _

Then it hit her. She laughed drily.  _ Am I stupid or what? _ she thought, sinking her fingers into the fabric of the sheet. She was still at Eliza's house, sleeping in Eliza's bed--

She stopped and sat up. Cautiously, she looked around and rubbed her eyes. Nope. Eliza wasn't sleeping next to her. That would've been awkward. 

Blinking, she ran a hand through her hair and kicked a blanket off of her. She didn't remember pulling the blanket over her. She pushed herself off the bed and began to walk across the room, stumbling a bit from sleep. Vaguely, she remember Eliza saying something about a "common room". So where was the common room?

She walked down the hall and pushed open the next door down. Peggy sat up from the bed. "Oh. Mornin'," Maria said. 

Peggy waved. "Hullo. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Eliza." Maria blinked groggily. "Where's the room… thingy?"

Peggy giggled. "Oh my god you are  _ so _ not awake." Peggy hopped off the bed and stretched. "She's in the middle room. You were close, though!" She paraded out of the room with Maria trailed behind her. 

"Ta-da!" Peggy pointed into the common room. 

"Thanks." Maria walked over towards the couch and sat on the edge of it, looking down at Eliza, who was still asleep. Then, her gaze was drawn to the clock underneath the TV.

Ten-thirty-three.

She nearly fell off the couch. "What? I was asleep for  _ twelve hours _ ?" she sputtered. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?" 

"Cause we were all asleep? I dunno." Peggy shrugged. "I was." 

"Oh  _ shit _ ," Maria said, drawing out the "i". "I gotta get home, now." 

Peggy tilted her head. "Why's that?" 

Maria didn't answer. She ran down the hallway towards Eliza's room and picked up her phone, which was buzzing nonstop. A knot was beginning to build up in her stomach. Shaking, she unlocked her phone. 

_ [ Why the fuck were you at the mall yesterday? ] _

_ [ Don't try to deny it. ] _

_ [ Matt saw you. ] _

_ [ With her. ] _

_ [ Do you know how much I wish I didn't have to go? ] _

_ [ I would have done anything to keep from going ] _

_ [ If I had to I would have forced them to come here ] _

_ [ But I didn't ] _

_ [ You know why? ] _

_ [ Of course not. ] _

_ [ We need to talk, Maria. ] _

_ [ I'm on my way back today, right now ] _

_ [ I will see you then. ] _

_ Timestamp: 6:03 AM _

She almost dropped it. She was screwed. And her battery was going to die in thirty minutes anyway. She swallowed hard. Home. Home. She had to get home. 

Her hands were shaking when she slid her phone in her pocket. Something had indeed gone very terribly, horribly wrong after all. She really hoped this didn't mean the  _ real  _ end. Oh, God. If he had been leaving at six a.m., he could be home already. 

She felt like she was going to puke, or cry, or both, all at once. 

She walked slowly back into the common room, trying her best to ground her emotions so she didn't start crying. If things continued the way they had, it would actually be the real end. She bit her lip and whimpered. 

Eliza blinked awake groggily when Maria shook her. "Huh? Whuzzat?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Maria tried her best not to look too concerned when she motioned for Eliza to wake up. It must not have worked, because Eliza seemed to immediately pick up on it. "What's wrong?" 

"I have to go home,  _ now _ ," Maria said, slow and controlled. She didn't want to start crying. It probably wouldn't even be that bad. 

"What? Why?" Eliza sat straight up and the two clonked foreheads. Maria stepped back.  _ I could've done it. _

"Just… Long… story. Can you drive me home?" she pleaded. 

"Yes, of course! Just, give me a second." She scooted off the couch and began to walk to her room. "Lemme get a jacket or something. And sweatpants." 

"But that takes time!" Maria called.

"One second, seriously!" Eliza called from her room. Maria nodded, biting her lip again. It hurt. She winced and fidgeted with her jacket zipper.

"Okay. Let's go." Eliza had on an oversized navy sweater that looked like it came from the public school down the street and in her hand were her keys. 

Maria nodded and followed her, shoving her hands in her shorts pockets to hide the trembling. 

***

Eliza slid into the drivers' seat of her mother's gray sedan and turned the key in the ignition. She had scrawled a quick note on the table in case she got back before her parents woke up with the hopes that Peggy would back her up. She glanced over at Maria, who had tilted her head back so she was resting on the back of the seat. Eliza furrowed her brow and turned back towards the road, buckling up one handed. "Where to?" she asked.

"373 East Sixth," Maria mumbled. 

"That's on the other side of town!" Eliza said. "Goddamn." She didn't even try to catch herself.

"Which is why I have to get home yesterday." Maria leaned forward and dug her nails into the seat cushion. Eliza took a note of this and set her phone, set to Google Maps, on the dashboard.

"Here. I'll just use the GPS. This way you can focus on calming down..." With that, she shifted gears and began to drive, slowly. She was a careful driver. It didn't help that she could only just see over the steering wheel.

"Okay..." 

The two sat in awkward silence for about three minutes, until they came to a stoplight. Eliza sighed and turned to look at her. "What... What exactly is so... scary?" she said hesitantly.

Maria sighed, then slumped, looking small and weak. "Remember the conversation yesterday?" she asked slowly.

"We had a lot of conversations." Eliza attempted at humor, only to drop it when she noticed exactly how morose Maria looked. "The possessive one...?"

Maria nodded slowly. She closed her eyes and curled up as much as she could on the seat. "I... I was... thinking..." she said. "When JD was singing... the one song, what was it, it was like... the one where Veronica was in the closet?" 

"Meant To Be Yours."

"Yeah. That one. But during that song I kind of... thought of James?" She shuddered. "It just... sounded so much like an argument we had-- A rant he did... and then I fell asleep. But it musta still've been in my head? Because I woke up from a nightmare..." She trailed off and broke eye contact with Eliza. "He.. was part of that nightmare." She flicked her gaze back towards her. "I don't want to go in detail. Please don't make me." 

Eliza nodded. "I think... I have some idea. Just keep going." 

Maria took a shallow breath and continued. "And then I got a bunch of text messages because that kid we saw yesterday told him and it just... I'm scared. You're right. You were right!" Maria laughed, but didn't mean it. "I need to get myself out of this... now... but I don't know..." She coughed. 

"How?" Eliza suggested. The light changed and Eliza began to drive again.

"Yes and... him. His... thing." She took a shaky breath. "I mean... God, I'm so stupid...  He fucking hit me." She buried her face in her hands. "I'm so, so stupid." 

Eliza made a right turn onto West Main. "You're not stupid..." she said.

"You're seriously just saying that. I fucking know I'm an idiot." Maria sounded like she was actually going to start crying.

"You're not stupid, just... Just..." Eliza struggled for the word.

"Just what? Don't try to tell me otherwise. Because that's lying." 

Eliza didn't know what to say. They drove another few minutes in near silence until they hit a stoplight again. Eliza reached out a hand for her. "You really aren't stupid. You just didn't know what you were doing," she said softly. 

Maria rubbed at her eye. "Hah. That's really funny." 

Eliza once again was at a loss for words. So she didn't say anything, instead just lightly rested her hand on Maria's forearm, since that was all she could reach. 

Maria didn't flinch away. She seemed to relax slightly. "I need help. With this. Help me." 

"I can try..." She would call the cops as soon as she could. That would be helping. Eliza smiled awkwardly. 

"Thank you." Maria then froze.

Then she actually started to cry.

"Maria?" Eliza said. "Are... Um..."

"You... I don't... What if this is legitimate, actual, good bye? That last time we see each other?" Maria mumbled. 

"What do you mean? Why would it be?" Eliza prayed that she didn't sound as shaky in her head as she did. 

"Because--" Someone's horn honked behind them and Eliza began to drive again-- "Because James..." 

Eliza turned her attention toward the road, her knuckles whitening around the wheel. 

"Because he might break this phone or force me to delete it or something like that I mean he broke my phone and gave me a new one the last time something like this happened and I don't why I didn't dump him then, I don't know I was... I'm so stupid or I was scared or I don't know!" The words came out all at once, and Eliza only barely picked it apart. "And, and, he thinks that I might have, might have a thing for you and in a way he isn't wrong, so he's going to get super overprotective if he sees you ever again, and he might try to kill you or do something to get you to move, or, I don't know, he can't do those but he could try and... In a way he's not wrong..." Her voice broke at the end of it and she fell silent.

There was a long pause while Eliza figured out what Maria was saying exactly. Then it hit her. "Wait..."

Maria nodded slowly. "I just... made it awkward, didn't I?" She dropped her eyes. "Man, I just seem to be a mess today, eh?" 

"No, no, you... You're not... Uhm..." Eliza stumbled over speaking. To distract herself, she picked up her phone and checked the directions. Ten minutes left. 

"I'm sorry," Maria said.

"Don't be!" Eliza replied quickly. "Don't... be sorry. You're fine. Really." 

Maria laughed drily. "Yeah... you believe that, don't you?" She wiped her eyes and sniffed. 

"I do and you're not going to change my opinion." Eliza stared at the road. _ Oh my God _ . "There's napkins in the thingy between the seats if you need them."

Maria laughed a little bit, not a lot, but just a little. "The thingy between the seats," she repeated.

"Yes." Eliza perked up a bit and focused on driving. 

***

Five minutes to go. Maria had begun to recognize more than a just a few scattered landmarks. She clutched the edge of her seat and stared at the dashboard with such intensity it was like she was trying to set it on fire. Her stomach burned like she was getting punched from the inside it and her eyes still stung with tears. She wanted to turned around and go back to Eliza's place. She wanted to curl up in a ball and go back to sleep. She wanted to be anywhere but here.

Four minutes. It wasn't fair. It wasn't exactly her fault that she wanted to have friends. It wasn't her fault that Eliza was so sweet and beautiful. She was sure that she wasn't the only one who could possibly have any sort of feelings for her.

It couldn't be her fault that James was a dick.

Three minutes. It was her fault that she didn't get out while she still could though. She felt like she was going to puke. She hugged her stomach and dug her fingers into her side. Squish. She hated that. 

Two minutes. She leaned back and sighed. "Eliza…?" she said slowly.

"Yeah?" Eliza said. "Is this your house?" She pointed at the house on the other end of the street. 

"Other end. Can… Can I ask you something?" Slowly, Maria turned her head to look at Eliza.

"Sure. What is it?" Eliza slowed the car. "That one?"

"Nope. Further." She sighed, and, ignoring the anxiety her stomach, asked, "You care because… you like me, right…?" 

Eliza stopped at the end of the block. Maria nodded a bit, and Eliza said, slowly, "...Yes." 

"Good." She took a deep breath. 

"Why?" Eliza looked over at her, tilting her head. 

Maria leaned across the seats and kissed her, short and sweet, and pulled away. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, pushing the door open and smiling at her. She then waved through the windshield and headed up to her house, and Eliza pulled away.

There was a beaten up black Honda in the side driveway.

Her mother's car was nowhere in sight.

_ Uh-oh. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.


	14. Moment of Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza notices the car. Maria thinks she is going to die.
> 
> (TW: Minor violence)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't keep you guys waiting for long... Although now i have to WRITE the next chapter, so it might be a bit before the story's resolved...
> 
> WE'RE ALMOST DONE HOLY??? IN TWO MONTHS?? This is the fastest I've ever published a story holy--

Eliza was in shock. Maria had kissed her. On the lips. 

_ Maria likes me back _ .

She mouthed the words, "Oh my God," as she shifted gears and drove around the building. "Oh my  _ God _ ." She shook her head to bring her back to reality and reached for her phone so she could get directions home.  _ How am I going to drive home like this? _

Then, something caught her eye, in the side driveway. She paused and looked around.

A beat-up old black Honda. That was  _ not  _ Maria's mother's car. It was familiar though… But how? She narrowed her eyes and stared at it for a few seconds. Then it hit her.

"Oh my god, that's James's car," she whispered. "Oh my god, James was here. Oh my god, he saw her kiss me." She froze, eyes widening. 

"Oh, my god, she's screwed." 

Eliza took a few deep breaths, then circled the car around the block, stopping just before she could see Maria's house. She should call the cops. She had to call the cops. 

Mentally, she pulled up a map of the town. The police station was closer to her house than here. It would take too long for the police to get here. She had to do something herself. 

But what?

She picked up her phone and set out a quick text to Angelica.

_ [ Hey Angie? ] _

_ [ I have a question ] _

_ [ Sure, what is it? ] _

_ [ Pretending to be a cop is a crime, right?  ] _

_ [ Um… yes. Why? ] _

_[ What are you doing? ]_  

_ [ Okay ] _

_ [ Then I didn't do it ] _

_ [ Oh my God Eliza, what are you doing? ] _

_ [ I hope it's sazviing Maria ] _

_ [ gtg ] _

_ [ Wait WHAT? ] _

 

Eliza closed the app before it could register as read. She had some semblance of a plan. Now she just had to work it out.

***

Maria stopped at the door, chewing her bottom lip until it hurt. She didn't want to enter the house. She didn't want to face the shitstorm. But she had to. She closed her eyes and rested her hand on the doorknob, and immediately threw her other arm up to protect her face when she walked in.

But nothing happened. James was sitting on the couch, quietly, sullenly, almost calmly, but there was an aura around him. A tangible fury that she'd only seen with the first girl. She pressed herself against the wall and tried to edge her way back into her room, without success. 

"You're home," James said, by way of greeting.

"Good of you to notice," Maria replied. As much as she wanted to sound like a smartass, she could hear how meek she sounded. 

James stood up and walked over to her. "Why so scared, hm?" he said. 

"I'm not." She tried to tilt her chin out and be brave. The pit in her stomach prevented that. 

"Liar." He rested a hand on her collarbone, just above her breasts, with just enough pressure to keep her pressed against the wall. "You're terrified."

"Why… would I… be scared?" Maria locked her knees. 

"You know exactly why." 

Maria tried to push his hand off. "Leave me alone. P-Please." She hated the stutter.

James chuckled. "No. I have some questions."

Maria whimpered. "Just go." 

James grabbed her face. "Answer my questions."

Maria winced. His nails were digging into her bruise. "Lemme go--!" she said, panicking. "Please!"

He didn't. "First up, why are you still talking to her? After all my warnings and asking you nicely--"

"Nicely…?" Maria interrupted. 

James dug his nails into her cheeks. "Let me finish."

Maria nodded fervently, which only hurt more. 

"I warned you so many times, so, please, why did you continue?" 

She whimpered pitifully and James released her. "I just wanted.. a… friend." Her voice cracked. "Why did you have to--"

"A friend? So you kiss your friends on the lips?" James snarled. "Don't lie about that one either. I saw you." He pressed an elbow underneath her chin against her neck, making it hard to breathe. "For god's sake, Maria."

Maria gasped and squirmed. She tried to escaped. "G-get… off…" she hissed, before kicking him in the stomach hard enough from him to release her. Making the break for it, she dove past him until she was in front of the coffee table. She was full blown terrified now. "Look, I just--"

James recovered and walked back over to her. "Just what? Just don't care about me?" he snapped. 

"No! Not… Not…" Maria fumbled with words for a second. "It's not because I don't care about you it's because I…" 

James stared her down. "Because you what?"

She stumbled over her words. "Because I... "

James laughed drily and grabbed her shoulder. "You don't care, do you? You couldn't give a flying fuck about me and my existence." He was spitting in her face. Maria flinched, and James growled, "Why don't you, eh? After everything?" He pushed her roughly into the table,. Her back hit the wood hard, and a glass fell to the ground and shattered. Her head flew back and hit the edge of the table. 

She coughed and tried to sit up, vision fuzzy at the edge. James pressed her down right at the bottom of her ribs with his elbow and she coughed again. "Please…" Maria pleaded. "I… can't… breathe."

"I'm sorry. But if you don't care about me, I won't care about you." He pressed harder and she felt like she was going to puke. 

Suddenly, she went limp, pretending to have passed out, but James seemed to have been expecting it. He didn't let up. Maria whimpered again and then forced herself to be silent. Eventually, James let up, pushing her down onto the floor. Pain spidered out from the base of her skull and she cried out. 

Wrong answer. James towered over her on the floor, and she was trapped between him and the couch. Pure panic coursed through her, and she tried to kick herself over on her side. She was too frightened to cry. "Go away!" she screamed, when he grabbed her arm.

"It's too late for that," James said, in a menacing growl. He pulled her up roughly, and Maria tried to pull away. It only resulted in shooting pain up her arm as he pulled the other direction and twisted it behind her back. Immediately, her brain jumped to the worst possible conclusion and she began fighting more.

"Get off of me get off of me get off of me!" she yelled as loud as she could. The words blurred together, but she was still screeching. She had neighbors. They would hear her.

"No." James had no emotion in his voice, which frightened her more than if he was screaming. She tried to push herself onto the couch, legs pumping air with each step. He was strong, stronger than she remembered. Almost too strong. 

Eventually, she gave up fighting, stomach plummeting. She was doomed. And that was when she started crying. 

James laughed. "That's it." 

Maria hiccuped pathetically, her heart slowing in her ears.

Out of nowhere, the piercing wail of a police siren started, right outside the door. Maria looked up, happily surprised at quickly the police had arrived. Then she realized that there were no flashing lights outside. So what could be out there? 

There was a loud knock on the door, and James tightened his grip on Maria. 

"Police! We have you surrounded!" someone shouted.

Maria tensed. _Eliza_? 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm surprised y'all don't hate me yet tbh


	15. Bleed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence

The idea had come to her on a whim: Pretend to be a cop and run. It might not work. It probably wouldn't work. And yet here she was, scraping her knuckles on the door by knocking a little too hard and feigning that she was an officer.

A real police officer's legs probably wouldn't be shaking like Eliza's were, so she tried to will them still. When that didn't work, she gave up and pounded on the door again. "We have the place surrounded!" she shouted, hoping her voice wasn't wavering as much as it was in her head.

***

James released her so suddenly that she fell into the couch. "A cop," he hissed, and Maria could practically feel his eyes burning holes in her.

"I didn't call them," she said shakily. 

James made a noise like a grunt in disbelief, and Maria went cold. "Right," he said. 

"Right." Slowly, she turned around. "I swear." She inched towards the door, trying to possibly get out and away before anything could happen. 

She didn't make it far. 

He grabbed her wrist. 

_ Damn, he's fast… _

"If you didn't call the police, why don't you go talk to them? Show them there's nothing wrong, hm?" he said.

Maria nodded quickly, and James smiled in a way that made her shudder. She started walking very slowly towards the door.

"Go!" James hissed, pushing her shoulder roughly, so roughly that she fell and bashed her face into the table. She bit her lip in pain and stood up quickly. Her cheek stung, and she could feel blood leaking from the wound. Trembling, she put one hand on the doorknob and wiped at her cut with the other.

***

Shuffling from inside. Eliza couldn't hear what happened, although it sounded like someone hit the ground. She winced and stepped to the side so that Maria could run. Very slowly, the door opened, and Eliza reached through the door and grabbed Maria's wrist. 

"Run," she said, and Maria didn't even acknowledge her, just forced her way through the door and started running, Eliza trailing after her. 

"Wait…" she said, trying to stop. "My car's--"

"Trust me. If we go that way…" Maria said between breathes, "...just… this way."

Eliza froze for a second, then nodded. "Lead the way…!" she said, just as Maria grabbed her wrist this time and started pulling her down the street. 

They didn't get very far before Eliza heard footsteps behind them. She shot a glance backward, then turned back to Maria. "We need to get to the car…" she hissed.

"I… Just… Trust… Me…" Maria said. "Fuck… I'm… out of… shae…" She shook her head and veered to the right, right into someone's back yard. With no other choice, Eliza had to follow.

Suddenly, her foot caught on something and she slammed into the ground, her ankle screaming in pain and all the air in her lungs being forced out. She couldn't breathe. Her fingers curled into the dirt and she tried to push herself up. Maria had gone on without her. Eliza coughed a little and looked over at her, only to choke again when her hood was grabbed and she was forcefully pulled up. No wonder she kept running. 

Eliza squirmed, her voice slowly returning. "Let me go!" she said.

Instead of talking, James just pulled harder on her hood. Eliza panicked. If he lifted, he could pick her up. Her fingers flew to her neck and she tried to keep herself able to breathe. She needed to get out of this… 

So she did the logical thing, and tried to kick him in the nuts. 

It didn't work. He was expecting it and knocked her foot out of the way. She started panicking even more, shaking her ankle which was throbbing now and immediately regretting that.  _ Shit. _ She could hear the blood in her ears; it was so loud she was certain that he could hear it too. 

Suddenly, she had the slightest idea. It was reckless, and probably wasn't going to work, but then again, that had been her previous plan as well, wasn't it? 

Willing her brain to shut up, she dropped her hands from her collar and stopped struggling, dropping her phone in the pocket of her sweatpants. Thank god it was only a sweatshirt.

"Same backbone as she does. No wonder you two get along," James grunted, snapping Eliza back to reality. 

She nodded weakly, her heart pounding in her throat. The pain in her ankle had died away, which was good, and all she had to do was… this.

James hadn't let go of her hoodie. Eliza took one deep breath, thrashed out of it, and chucked it at James's head, taking off at a dead sprint across the yards in front of her. She hoped that the shock would buy her some time so she could catch up to Maria. 

***

Maria's cheek was still bleeding and now so were her forearms, as she had practically dived for the sidewalk and scraped up her skin. She hissed and brushed gravel bits off her raw flesh, every now and then looking behind her. What was taking Eliza so long? Oh no, what if…? 

She sighed and stood up. She shouldn't have run. Not like there was any good reason for running anyway… minus the fact that she was a coward. God. She was stupid. 

She turned around and slowly began to walk back through the yards. She didn't get far though, when Eliza came stumbling through the grass, limping and sans sweatshirt. Maria blinked. "What…?" she asked, running forward so that Eliza didn't collapse onto the street.

"I'll explain later. Ow.  _ Ow _ ." Eliza winced and leaned on Maria. "Ow ow ow. Stupid bush." 

"You're going to have to explain that one," Maria said quietly. "Where is he?"

"I tripped over a bush and now I can't walk properly  _ ow _ ." She hopped onto her right foot and steadied herself on Maria's shoulder. "Also he's probably tangled in a sweatshirt and I hope he tripped over the same bush." She smiled sweetly.  "Oh my god, you're bleeding."

Maria wiped her cheek again. "It's not as bad as it was."

"But you're  _ bleeding _ . Everywhere, oh my god." Eliza looked back. "I'll...  We need to get to the car."

"If you can't walk though I don't think you can drive," Maria said. "And I don't know how to even turn on a car."

"Joy." Eliza looked around. "Is there anywhere…?"

"The library! It isn't far." Maria looked at Eliza's ankle, which seemed to be swollen. "We can cut this way." She put an arm around Eliza's shoulders and started to walk, ignoring the ridiculousness of Eliza's little hop-walk she had to do. 

***

The two didn't get very far down the sidewalk when behind them, Eliza picked up the sounds of someone running. She closed her eyes and kept hopping, only to realize that Maria had frozen. she looked over. "Huh?" she asked. 

Maria shook her head. "Nothing.. Just reciting something in my head. Let's go." She started to walk again. 

They had barely made it a single step when James grabbed Maria's shoulder. Both of them froze this time. "Listen," James began.

"Let go of her," Eliza said, taking a quick glance at Maria's expression. Maria waved her hand vaguely and Eliza took that to mean,  _ Wait. _

"And why should I answer to you?" James spat.

"Get off of me," Maria replied. She sounded surprisingly solid.

"No." His fingers gripped into Maria's shirt, and Eliza imagined that it must hurt. "Why should I?" 

Maria didn't answer, and it was obvious that she was rethinking what she had planned to say. Eliza nudged her with her knee.  _ Answer him _ .

"So you can do what, run away again?" James's voice was hollow. "Run away from your problems again? Like that will get you anywhere." He pulled at Maria's shoulder. "Come on. It's not like you can do anything either." He laughed drily. "Come on, I'm waiting for the surprise." 

There was a pause. Maria turned to look at him, saying, "Be surprised I'm not going to stoop to your level, then." She started walking, not caring that James was still gripping onto her shoulder like a clamp. Eventually, he let go, stunned into near silence.

"How anticlimactic," he said. "Won't even fight back."

This was when Eliza spoke up. "Why would she need to fight back if she won?"

James floundered for a moment. Maria looked at Eliza and the two exchanged grins. 

"Fine," James growled. "Fine, you won. I should've known you didn't care." And then he walked away with an air of finality. It was over.

Maria was free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only one chapter of this one left...
> 
> Hope you guys don't hate the ending too much,,, 
> 
> I was running out of ideas |D
> 
> ((The best part about being a stupid teenager when writing teenage characters is they can pull the sAME STUPIDITY


	16. Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end.

"Question."

"Yes?" Eliza looked over from her bed.

"Am I high?" Maria asked.

Eliza snorted. "What kind of question is that?"

"The ceiling is rippling and I think I'm high." Maria gestured vaguely at the ceiling.

"On painkillers maybe," Eliza said, sitting up and leaning on her forearm. "You had to get stitches."

"So I am high." Maria grinned. "You could've just said that."

"I didn't say you  _ were _ ," Eliza said.

The two were in Room 302, on the top floor of the hospital, having arrived about four hours ago from the library. The librarian had gone into a state of minor shock at seeing them walk in, and Eliza felt bad for her, but at the same time the librarian had given them minor first aid (as well as a shirt. Eliza was so happy about that one) and called the ambulance for them. All of that was good, because her ankle was now in so much pain she doubted she could walk when she sat down and turning several shades of purple. She thanked adrenaline for getting her here. 

Maria hadn't looked too good either. The cut on her cheek had yet to stop bleeding and didn't seem to have helped her bruise either. Bruises, excuse me. Another one was on her temple and there were scrapes covering her arms and the back of her neck. It hurt just to look at her. 

It was better now. Eliza was in a walking boot and had a few bandages on her stomach from some unknown cuts that were considered bad enough to warrant them from her falling onto the dirt. Maria had stitches on the cut on her cheek and her forearms were just wrapped up due to the amount of cuts covering them. and she was hopped up on the local anesthesia they had to give her when they sewed up the cut. It was probably going to scar. Eliza wouldn't mind if it did or didn't.

She was safe.

Eliza rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "I wonder when my sisters are going to get here," she mused. "Angelica's already freaked out at me and Peggy's going to like, explode as well." 

"Haaaaah." Maria grinned. "That's going to be interesting."

"Yeah. Did you text your mom?" Eliza looked over out of the corner of her eyes. 

"Phone is dead and charging. Haven't had a chance. You are so pretty wow." 

Eliza flushed. "Was that the pain meds talking?" 

"Maybe, maybe not." Maria giggled. "What if it's not~? You already know I like you."

"About that." She twisted around again and mentally cursed the walking boot. "What is this?"

"What do you mean?" Maria said, rolling over herself. "Like are we a thing?"

Eliza nodded slowly, biting her lip discreetly.

"Uhm. Do you want us to be?" 

Again, Eliza nodded, a little too embarrassed to speak. 

"Poof! We're dating." Maria giggled and flopped back on the bed. Eliza started laughing as well.

"I can't wait until the painkiller's are out of your system, Maria," she said, when she could talk again.

"But I'm funny stoned. Maybe I should try weed."

"Maybe you should  _ not  _ try weed!" 

"You're no fun." Maria stuck out her tongue.

"I'm not dating a druggie."

"Wh _ yyyy _ ?" Maria mock sobbed. 

"Shush." Eliza waved a hand and sunk into her pillows. 

"One victory weed."

"No."

"I'm joking please?"

"Oh my god." Eliza was laughing. "You're a dork."

"Yes I am." 

Eliza closed her eyes and chuckled, stifling a yawn. Victory. This was victory. Maria was safe and Eliza had gotten the girl. That was a strange sentence, one that she never expected to think. Her gaze flickered over to Maria again, who seemed to be nearing sleep, probably thanks to the painkillers. She smiled and leaned into the thin hospital mattress. 

She looked up at the ceiling and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over...
> 
> well... THIS story. 
> 
> I will write more haha...


End file.
